Heartbeat
by AdrenalineRush16
Summary: Itey has been a normal kid for most of his life; average grades, good friends, etc. But one day that changes, all because of the beating of his heart... Not a typical high school storyline. No slash or major OC's. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize  
_

**A/N: **Okay, I am officially starting a chapter fic. Wow. As you can see from the summary, it's a modern day high school story that focuses on Itey. I think I've got a pretty original storyline, so I'm hoping you guys will like it. It's based off things in my life and it's not that typical. Please R&R!

* * *

**Chapter One**

Something was squeezing my arm. I looked down to see a band of cloth around the top of my arm, right above my elbow. It was squeezing tighter and tighter. Why was someone taking my blood pressure? I looked around, hoping to see a doctor. The cuff was getting too tight. I looked at it again. My arm was turning purple and it was really starting to hurt.

"Hey!" I tried pulling it off, but it wouldn't budge. It just kept pressing harder and squeezing tighter and then—

BEEP!!!!!!!!!!

I groaned as I hit the snooze button on my alarm clock and sat up. What a weird dream! I flopped onto my back, rubbing my temples. It was probably because, yesterday, I was thinking about my doctor's appointment this afternoon and I hate having my blood pressure taken. Still, dreaming about it was weird.

"BEEP!"

My alarm went off again. This time I switched it off, but I still didn't move.

"Michael, you're going to be late!" my mother hollered from the kitchen, downstairs.

"Coming!"

I threw on some clothes, ran a comb through my hair, and then darted downstairs, where my mom was waiting with some hot chocolate chip pancakes. "Yes!" I grinned, as she slid a heap of them onto my plate.

"Don't get used to it young man." She wagged her finger at me. "It's a onetime deal."

"But it's here." I shrugged and grinned.

She smiled along with me. My mom's pretty cool about stuff like that. A knock sounded at the door and Snitch poked his head in.

"You ready Itey?" he asked, and then caught sight of my mom. "Oh, hey Mrs. T."

My mom sighed. "Hello, Lucas."

My mom can't stand the fact that we call each other by nicknames. It's something about "preserving our self-dignity". Whatever. It's the only thing that really bugs her, so I guess I've got it pretty good. I'm lucky I don't have a mom like Snoddy's. She worries about _everything_.

I gave my mom a kiss, grabbed my backpack, and then raced out the door.

"Guess who got chocolate chip pancakes this morning?" I sang.

Snitch's mouth dropped. "Lucky!" he exclaimed. "Boy! If I'd known that, you would've woken up to see me at your kitchen table."

"I can believe that!" I said, smiling. Snitch and I tend to barge into each other's houses all the time without being invited over. But hey, we've been like that since second grade and neighbors just as long. It's almost our right.

"So, you goin' to the game on Friday?" Snitch asked, as we slid into our usual seats on the bus.

"I dunno, you?"

Snitch shrugged. "I'm only going if everyone else does. I don't like football all that much."

I nodded. "Me neither."

"Hey, maybe we could get some of the guys together Friday and hang out," Snitch suggested. "Order some pizza, watch movies, and stuff like that."

I grinned. "That sounds like fun. Who doesn't like a pizza party on a Friday night?"

"We'll just have to have it at a place where there is a lot of room and whose parents don't care a lot." Snitch gave me a sly look.

I sighed. "My house?"

Snitch feigned surprise. "I would've never thought of that!" He grinned.

I cracked a smile. Snitch is just like that. You can't help but grin along with him. I guess I didn't blame him for wanting it to be at my house though. It is pretty big. We have a big screen TV downstairs and an air hockey table by some beanbags. It's the perfect hangout.

"I'll ask my parents tonight," I told Snitch.

He grinned. "Awesome."

We were quiet for a while.

"I had a weird dream last night," I said, breaking the silence.

Snitch was staring out the window. "Really, 'bout what?"

"I was having my blood pressure taken," I said sheepishly.

Snitch turned away from the window and gave me a weird look. "Do you dream about stuff like that all the time?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, it's just I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon and I'm scared."

Snitch slung his arm around me. "Itey, it's a doctor. That's nothing to be scared about."

I shrugged his arm off and said, irritably, "It's not the doctor. It's the fact that they always take my blood pressure."

This time it was Snitch's turn to roll his eyes. "Itey, it's not that bad." He laid his head back and closed his eyes.

"That's easy for you to say," I scoffed. "You like having it taken."

"It feels good," Snitch said.

I frowned. "It feels like they're going to amputate my arm when they do it."

"You overreact too much," Snitch told me, his eyes still closed.

I scowled.

"Okay, so call me tonight about the pizza thing," Snitch said, as we got off the bus and went to our lockers.

I nodded and started towards the math room.

"Oh, and don't forget!" I turned around, as Snitch grinned. "Crazy doctors taking your blood pressure!"

I rolled my eyes. Maybe Snitch liked it, but having my blood pressure taken scared the living daylights out of me. I was beginning to regret telling him.

I quickened my steps as I headed down the hallway. I couldn't be late for math again or I'd get a detention. Usually I'm a pretty on-time kind of guy, but now that I've hit sophomore year, I've started talking with my friends more in the mornings. And last semester, I had science, which was right next to my locker, so I could talk all I wanted. Now that math is across the school, I had to hurry.

I slid into my seat just as the bell rang and breathed a sigh of relief. My teacher, Mr. Wilson, gave me a pointed look.

"Almost late again Mr. Tesoro," he said sternly. I shrank back a little in my seat.

Mr. Wilson was one of those teachers that can really scare a kid. He's a great at explaining things, so I always understand the homework, but he's pretty tough. You've got to watch out when you're around him. The nice thing is, his classroom is always quiet, which is great for working on homework.

Bumlets waved to me from across the room and I smiled, waving back. He was sitting next to Specs, who had his nose in a book, as usual. I would've sat next to them, but we had a seating chart. (I swear, whoever thought up those must've hated kids.) I was stuck next to a bunch of giggling girls whose lives revolved around makeup and movie stars. Blah.

"Alright class, take out your textbooks," Mr. Wilson said with a pointed glare towards the girls. They shut up and then scowled at him behind his back. I sighed and dug my textbook out of my backpack. Another Tuesday had begun.

* * *

**A/N: **Before I say anything, I must say a HUGE public thank you to my amazing beta Laelyn24. Thanks a zillion Laelyn! You're the best! ~hugs~

I'm sorry guys that this is kind of a intro chapter, things don't get really exciting until chapter two or three. Heh, what can I say? I do short chapters. ;) Thanks for reading! Please review!

AdrenalineRush16

P.S. If you guys want a fun fact; Tesoro means "sweetie" in Italian. :)


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize  
_

**A/N: **Thank you to Smiley94, CES5410, and bumletsgirl for reviewing! And as always, thank you to Laelyn24 for being my beta. ~hugs everyone~ Love you all! :D So, this is chapter two and it actually has some action in it. :) R&R please!

* * *

"Heya Itey," Dutchy greeted, as I sat down at lunch.

"Hi Dutchy," I said back, smiling. Specs eyed my tray.

"Nice slop you got there," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"I know." I grimaced, stirring the plastic-looking mashed potatoes with distaste. "Disgusting, huh?"

"I'll say," Bumlets agreed, opening his bag lunch.

"That's why Specsie and I bring our own lunches," Dutchy said beaming.

"Specsie?" Swifty snickered, as he plunked himself down beside me.

Specs groaned and I grinned. "Nice nickname," I said playfully.

"Well, I didn't ask for it," Specs growled, sending a pointed look Dutchy's way. Dutchy grinned good-naturedly and set about eating his food.

"Hey, Itey." Snitch greeted, as he sat down beside me. "I thought you were going to be at the doctor's already?"

I groaned. "No, I'm not leaving 'till drama class."

"You're leaving during drama?" Bumlets asked. "Who's gonna play the piano then?"

I took a bite out of my hamburger, which tasted like cardboard. "I already talked to Medda about it; she's going play for you or work on something else while I'm gone."

One thing I should probably mention about myself is the fact that I play piano. I guess I'm pretty good at it too, because our drama teacher, Miss Larkson (actually, she lets us call her Medda), asked me to play for the fall musical. I almost turned her down, because I don't like performing, but Medda told me I'd be backstage and it'd be fine. So, I agreed. I'm glad I didn't turn her down, it's actually pretty fun! Plus Dutchy, Bumlets, and Pie are there, so it's not that bad.

"Why do you need to go to the doctor, Itey?" Jake asked in his quiet way.

"Just a check-up," I replied, pushing away my hamburger and taking a swig of Dr. Pepper.

"Doctors are creepy," Dutchy announced. "They're always looking at me funny."

"They're not the only ones," Specs muttered.

"You're getting as bad as Skittery," Snitch commented, grinning.

Specs rolled his eyes. "Please no." He sighed. "If I ever get like that, slap me hard okay?"

With that, Pie reached over and whacked him on top of the head.

"There ya go," he said, grinning. Specs whacked him back, trying to scowl, but ended up smiling.

"Anyway, so when are you leaving?" Bumlets asked. "During drama, I mean."

"After about thirty minutes," I said, pushing away my tray. "I think Medda's going to teach you a dance or something afterwards."

"I love how she is the choreographer, director, and voice director," Dutchy said dreamily.

"I heard they're going to hire some guy named Kenny to help," Pie said, biting into his sandwich.

"To replace Medda?" Snitch sounded aghast.

Pie shook his head. "Nah, just to help out with the dancing, so that Medda gets some time off,"

"Well he better be good," Dutchy said firmly. "Cuz that'd stink to have someone bad."

"Whatever," Specs rolled his eyes. He doesn't understand how we can like theater. "Like dancing and singing is totally normal." With that, he strode off to dump his lunch tray.

"You're just jealous, Specsie!" Dutchy hollered at Specs' retreating figure.

I stood up. "I'm going to go buy some candy or something, anyone want to come with?"

Snitch stood up with me. "Sure," he said, grinning. I got rid of my tray and we both got some M&M's.

On our way back, Snitch glanced sideways at me. "Ya still nervous about your doctor appointment?"

I looked at him. "How could you tell?"

He grinned. "Cuz you have that 'broody Itey' look on your face." I sighed. Snitch can always tell when I have something on my mind.

"I swear, you're a mind-reader sometimes," I said, jostling his shoulder a little.

He jostled me back. "Yeah, I know." His look changed. "You should stop worryin' about it though."

I groaned. "I can't help it if I hate doctors."

Snitch rolled his eyes. "You've got to toughen up that's all. Be manlier."

I scowled. "You're one to talk; you still suck your thumb at night."

Snitch's face darkened with anger, and instantly I felt ashamed. That was a low blow. Snitch stuck his face into mine.

"Well sorry _Michael_," he hissed and stalked away.

"Snitch wait!" I called after him, but he didn't turn. I sighed. Great, this day was going by wonderfully. The bell rang and I trudged to drama class, feeling very depressed.

***

"Itey?"

I was startled out of my brooding by Medda's concerned voice. I gave her a sheepish look; I had been really out of it ever since my fight with Snitch. "Sorry, what?"

Medda smiled. "I said, we'll start again at measure 16."

I nodded doggedly and started up the music again. It was hard to concentrate; I just couldn't stop thinking about Snitch's and my argument. As a result, I kept making dumb mistakes on the piano.

I hit the wrong note again and sighed. "I'm sorry Medda, I just can't focus today."

Medda smiled and patted my shoulder. "It's alright," she said in her French accent. "We still have plenty of time." She checked the clock. "And speaking of which, don't you have an appointment you have to go to?"

I jumped and looked at the clock. "Oh crap!" I slapped my folder shut and threw it in the piano bench. "Thanks Medda, gotta go!"

Medda laughed. "Don't be late!"

"See ya Itey!" Dutchy hollered, as I leapt off the stage and grabbed my backpack.

"Hope it goes well!" Bumlets cried. I waved as I tore out of the theater.

***

"Gotta hurry, gotta hurry," I panted, as I reached my locker. Knowing my mom, she was probably already in the parking lot. She's early for most things and usually, I am too. Today I was just too distracted.

"Come on you stupid locker!" I jiggled the lock resisting the urge to kick the locker. Why was it whenever you're in a hurry, you can never open your locker?

"Finally!" I sighed, as I wrenched open my locker. A slip of paper fluttered out and I nearly didn't catch it. It was a torn up sheet of loose-leaf, folded in half. My brow crinkled and I opened it. I recognized the messy handwriting immediately; Snitch.

_Itey,_

_Sorry for blowin' up earlier. I didn't mean it. You're just as much of a man as I am, (which isn't much I guess.) Hope your doctor appointment goes well!_

_-Snitch_

I smiled. That was like Snitch, always thinking of others. I checked my watch; I had one minute until I had to be at the doors! I quickly grabbed all my books and in my haste, I dropped one. I quickly bent down to pick it up, taking a deep breath in. All of a sudden, my heart skipped a beat.

_What?_ I thought, furrowing my brow. Then it happened...

My heart began pounding twice as fast as it usually does. I could feel it rocketing around inside my chest. I could even hear it in my skull. I leaned against my locker, suddenly dizzy. I slid down, brining my knees to my chest and pressing my hands against my temples, trying to breathe normally.

I sat there for two minutes, trying to calm down. I was on the verge of panicking before it stopped, just as suddenly as it came. It was like it skipped again, and then started beating at its regular rate. It was weird though, I could still feel the pulse in my head. I breathed deeply. The heavy beating began to fade away. I felt my chest; my heart was still beating, just more faintly, like it usually would.

I drew in a shaky breath and stood up, clutching my books tightly. My heart rate was back to normal, but I still felt a little dizzy. I quickly slipped my books into my bag and went jogging down the hallway, as I checked my watch again. That weird heart thing had made me late.

"Where were you?" Mom asked, as I darted into the car.

"Sorry," I said, throwing my books in the backseat. "I lost track of time."

"Let's hope we aren't late," my mom said, sighing, as she drove out of the parking lot. I felt my chest again as soon as she wasn't looking. Its heart rate was normal again. I let out a large sigh.

"Anything wrong honey?" Mom asked, keeping her eyes on the road.

"No," I stammered, shakily. "I'm fine." She looked at me for a second.

"You sure?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Positive," I said, putting on a fake smile. She shrugged and went back to looking at the road. I exhaled quietly. I didn't know what was wrong with my heart, but I didn't want to tell anyone right now. It was just too weird.

* * *

**A/N:** .........I don't really know what to say, so I'll just ask you guys again to please review and thank you for reading! :)

AdrenalineRush16


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: With the exception of a few minor characters, I don't own anyone in this story. Foo-foo. (Does anyone else like to say that? ;D)  
_

**A/N:** I am soooo sorry for the long wait you guys! The holiday season made it difficult to communicate with my beta and then there were some sending problems. But all is well now! :D Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Forgive me in advance, I made Dutchy and Blink a little, um, silly in this chapter. ~cowers~ I'm sorry, I just love writing them that way! :D Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter; R&R please!

* * *

"So, how'd the appointment go?" Snitch asked as I walked through the doors.

I shrugged. "Okay."

Snitch caught sight of my face. "They took your blood pressure, didn't they?"

I sighed. "They always do." I didn't tell him about the crazy heart thing that had happened yesterday; it was so strange that I didn't want to talk about it.

Snitch slung an arm around me. "But you're okay now, right?"

I didn't answer right away, because truthfully, I wasn't doing so hot. The heart pressure thing was fine; it had bugged me, but that was the least of my worries right now. A sudden fear had hit me, what if that weird heart thingy hit me again?

"Itey?" Snitch gave me a concerned look.

I feigned a smile. "I'm fine."

Snitch glanced at me curiously. "If you say so." He sounded doubtful.

Just then, Dutchy ran up. "Guess who just threw up all over the locker room?" he cried gleefully.

I let out a relieved sigh, happy to have the attention off me. Sometimes, Dutchy could be a real pain in the neck for shooting off random comments and stupid things, but he was a real life-saver right now.

"And then, he was like, 'I think I'm gonna be sick'…" Dutchy was still rambling and Snitch looked about ready to throw up himself.

"Hey fellas!" Jack came striding up to us, a huge smile on his face.

"Heya Jack!" Dutchy grinned. "Ya hear who just blew their groceries?"

Jack actually did a double take. "Did what?"

"Threw up," I informed him. Bumlets, who had just come up behind me, snickered.

"I got it from Skittery," Dutchy said proudly.

"What about me?" Skittery walked into the building, flanked by Blink. By Skittery's scowl, Kid had been a little too irritating on the way to school.

"Skitts, where'd you pick up the term, 'blowing your groceries?" Bumlets asked him.

Skittery's eyes went wide. "How'd you find that out?" he asked quietly.

Jack nodded to Dutchy. "Dutch said he picked it up from you."

Skittery sent a killer look to Dutchy and then mumbled something under his breath.

"What?" Snitch asked.

"He got it from his parents," Blink filled us in, beaming.

Boy, if looks could kill, Kid Blink would be pushing up daisies.

"Listen blondie," Skittery said, starting towards Blink, glaring dangerously.

"Eeep!" Kid let out a shriek and made a bee-line to his locker, an angry Skittery flying after him.

Bumlets chuckled. "C'mon Itey, let's go to math."

I grinned and pulled my backpack from the floor when it happened again, my heart skipped a beat. The rapid pounding that I could hear in my head and chest was back. I groaned inwardly.

"Come on Itey!" Bumlets called, hurrying towards the math wing. I hefted up my backpack and waved to the other guys, jogging after Bumlets. My heart was still racing, but I figured, it if I just ignore it, it would go away.

Wrong.

By the time I had reached the math room, I was panting. I collapsed into my chair, my heart pounding harder and faster than before. It was louder now that I was sitting down. I buried my face in my arms, breathing hard.

"You okay Itey?" Bumlets asked me, shaking my arm.

"Uh huh," I mumbled into my arm.

"Mr. Lucci, if you don't mind, I'd like to start class," Mr. Wilson's dry voice commanded. I raised my head as Mr. Wilson gave both Bumlets and me a pointed stare. Bumlets gave a sheepish look and darted to his seat.

Mr. Wilson picked up some chalk as Bumlets slid into his seat. "Now take out your homework. Ms. Connolly, please start by doing number one on the board."

My head spun as I stared at the board, probably with a stupid look on my face. My heart was pounding so fast…. _Maybe I'm having heart attack. _My mind was running away with me. _Any second now I'm going to keel over and wake up in the ER!_

"Mr. Tesoro, are you listening?" Mr. Wilson's voice cut through my thoughts.

_Maybe I should go to the nurse's office._

"I'm fine," I said, scribbling down some equation. Mr. Wilson raised an eyebrow and then turned back to the board. I dropped my pencil and it rolled off my desk as I sighed. Then I reached down to pick the pencil up.

My heartbeat stopped for a moment and my breath caught in my throat. Then my heart began to beat again, like it normally would, steady and slow. I let out my pent up breath and sat back up, trying to concentrate on math.

I shivered. This was scary.

The next day, I was surprised to find that I didn't have any heart things. Everything felt normal.

_It was probably one of those "once in a lifetime" things, _I decided, _nothing to worry about._

Hmmph, famous last words.

I had just finished emailing Snitch and was jumping down the stairs when I let out a skip-hop and the beating started again. _Not again, _I thought walking slowly down the stairs.

I walked into the den where the football game was on. (My mom is obsessed with football, which is kind of ironic since I don't like the sport all that much. My dad does, but he was on a business trip.) I crashed onto the couch, about to grab the remote, when I realized how hard my heart was pounding. I felt my chest and then gulped. It was really starting to hurt,my chest I mean. I felt like I had some heavy weight on my chest and it pushing down hard. My chest felt compressed and I starting panting. Then I jumped up and hurried into the kitchen where my mom was.

"Mom?" I asked quietly. I couldn't believe that shaky voice was me. I sounded like I was five again.

"Yeah honey?" My mom answered, cutting up some carrots.

"Um…" I tried to think of a way to explain it to her. _Yeah Mom, my chest is hurting like heck because my heart is going a million beats a minute ._Sure, that's a normal thing to say to your mom.

"What is it Michael?" Mom turned around, giving me a concerned look. "Are you alright? You look a little pale." I shook my head; tears were threatening to come out.

"Are you getting sick?" Mom came over and put her arms around me. I started to cry.

Looking back on it, I can't believe I did that. Here I was, a sophomore in high school, bawling on my mom's shoulder. I hadn't done that since fifth grade.

I guess this was different though; it was just…weird.

"My chest hurts," I blubbered. "And my heart's going way too fast." My mom looked at me. (If I hadn't been crying, I swear she would've asked me if I was joking.)

She felt my chest and her eyes widened. "My God," she whispered, pressing her hand harder to my chest. She then pulled away, looking me straight in the eye. "Has this happened before?"

I nodded, still crying. "But my chest has never hurt!"

My mom led me to the sofa and put her arms around me. I felt like I was six, but I didn't care; I crawled into her lap anyway. After ten minutes of just lying in her lap and holding tight to her neck, the fierce beating stopped.

"It stopped," I whispered.

She felt my chest again. "Does your chest still hurt?"

I shook my head. She gave me another hug. "We'll talk about it with your father when he gets home next week," she promised. Mom attempted a smile.

"Do you want to eat something?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I think I'll just lie down for a while," I told her, curling up on the couch.

Mom nodded as she started to stroke my hair.

"I love you," she said tenderly.

"Love you too," I mumbled, pulling a blanket over me. Normally, I wouldn't let her stroke my hair, but this time I did. I was starting to calm down, but this was mainly for her sake I guess. My male ego was taking over and I began to feel a lot stronger. _Don't worry about it ._I told myself sleepily. _It's just what Jack always says, just a part of carrying the banner. _I eventually drifted to sleep.

I don't think I would've been so calm if I had known what I was in for me in just a few days.

It was a Thursday, which meant in gym class, we were going to play dodge ball. It's always a class favorite.

"Catch the ball!" Spot Conlon hollered to Jack, both were friends of mine.

"Keep your suspenders on!" Racetrack bellowed from across the room.

Kid Blink, who was beside me, snickered. "Suspenders on."

I rolled my eyes. Racetrack Higgins was one of those guys who really didn't care what other people thought about him. Race was also the only one who would dare bark at Spot Conlon. But they had both been friends for years and I don't think Spot minded when Race teased him.

"Race, you have one heck of a vocabulary," Kid said, slapping Race on the back after he got out.

Race shrugged. "It was somethin' to say."

The three of us were sitting on the bleachers on one side of the intense dodge ball game, watching Spot and Swifty face off. Jack jogged up to us, laughing.

"Aw, Race, you should've seen Spot's face when you said that!" he doubled over laughing.

Race rolled his eyes."It wasn't that funny."

Jack and Blink's laughter told him otherwise.

"Well, if it ain't the losing team," Spot Conlon said as we turned towards him.

"Good job Spotty, you are now going to the Olympics for being a great dodge ball thrower," Racetrack said, completely deadpan.

Spot smirked and whacked Race's head. "You sonofagun."

"New game!" Mr. Song, our gym teacher, hollered as we headed back onto the gym floor and divided up into our teams. He blew the whistle and we began hurling balls at each other as fast as we could.

Everything was going fine until I slipped and fell onto the concrete. Swifty got the ball that was coming towards me and helped me up.

"Thanks," I said. He nodded and began to throw the balls again. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach as I realized that my heart was doing the weird fast thing again. I decided to try to ignore it as I kept playing.

Bad idea.

My lunch was sloshing around in my stomach as I crouched and whirled, trying to miss the flying balls .My heartbeat was so loud it seemed impossible that no one else could hear it. I could feel it and hear it pounding in my skull, as if someone was hitting it with a hammer. I didn't even notice that I was swaying until Snitch caught my shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned. I was about to nod when I noticed the yellow dots dancing across my vision. Well, they were really yellow with black rims, but that's beside the point.

"Itey?"

My world was spinning now and the dots were just getting bigger.

"Catch him!"

I didn't even notice I was falling until someone caught me in their arms.

"Itey!" Snitch shouted.

* * *

**A/N:** Heh, cliffy. ~hides in closet with Skittery~ (I don't want a telegram or flowers, but reviews would be nice!) Um, I am halfway through chapter four, so this shouldn't be a long wait again. Well, I kind of have a writer's block but....heh. :D Thanks for reading and have a happy New Year!

AdrenalineRush16

P.S. If anyone read Laelyn24's story "Beneath it All" I threw a reference to Tug in there. Did anyone get it? (FYI, I did get permission)


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I own no one that you recognize  
_

**A/N:** Okay, so this chapter really goes out to **Bumlets girl**, who helped me keep writing (As Bumlets girl found out, nagging me helps me write faster) and as a result, this chapter was done a lot sooner than I was planning on! ;) So, thank you to Bumlets girl, my amazing beta Laelyn, and all of who you have read this story; your reviews really are great. :D Now enough of my babbling, may I proudly present Chapter Four! :)

* * *

**Ch.**** 4**

FWEET!!!!!

Mr. Song's whistle screamed through the air, demanding silence.

"What happened here?" he asked, peering over me.

"He just started swaying and then fell over." Spot informed him, a note of concern laced into his voice.

I blinked, trying to distinguish what was happening around me. Did Spot actually sound worried? Maybe I was having a heart attack, or maybe I was just hearing things wrong. My heart was still going a million beats a minute; it could've clogged my ears.

I shut my eyes again; the yellow spots were still there. I felt like any second I was going to faint.

"Itey, I think you should go to the nurse's office?" Mr. Song told me calmly.

That's one thing that you've gotta appreciate about Mr. Song; he doesn't worry. If we had a psychotic maniac with a gun running around through the school, he'd probably tell just to be quiet and lock the doors. Then he'd sit on the floor with us and snicker at the idiocy of some people.

"Uh, okay," I said, standing up and putting my hand to my temple. My heart rate was like a drumbeat at an Indian pow-wow; it just wouldn't stop. My head was also starting to hurt.

"Want me to go with ya, Itey?" Snitch asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

My legs wobbled, and then buckled. "Sure," I said as he pulled me up and put an arm around me. Mr. Song handed me a pass and then Snitch and I started towards the door.

Snitch and I walked in silence to the nurse's office. "So, uh, what's actually wrong?" he finally asked.

I stopped and shut my eyes. My head hurt and I was getting dizzy. I moaned; I really didn't want to talk.

Snitch patted my back. "You can tell me later," he said, putting a cheery note in his voice. I could tell he was worried, but he was trying not to show it. I didn't blame him though; if it was Snitch who had almost blacked out in gym class, I would be trying to act strong for him too.

We got to the nurse's office and Snitch started talking. "Ms. M., Itey's got somthin' wrong with him."

Our nurse, Mrs. Mattan, or Ms. M., as we called her, rose from her desk.

"You look pale," she told me, leading me to a cot and letting me lie down. I shut my eyes tight and tried to breathe deeply as she asked Snitch what happened.

"I dunno," he said. "He just fell over."

"Thank you, Lucas," Ms. M said dryly. "You may go now. I'll speak to Michael myself."

"Feel better Eye-Talian!" Snitch called as she ushered him out of the office. I smiled feebly; good old Snitch.

"Now, what happened _Michael_?" Ms. M. asked, emphasizing my name.

I tried to keep from smirking. "Well, my heart started going real fast and—"

Ms. M interrupted me. "Is it still going very fast?"

I nodded, my previous humor fading fast. What was wrong with me?

I cracked an eye open as Ms. M took out her stethoscope and pressed it to my chest. "It is rapid…and very loud," she murmured. "Were you running?" she asked briskly as she put away her stethoscope and pulled out a very familiar looking stopwatch and cuff.

"Not a lot," I answered truthfully. "We were just playing dodge ball." I sucked in a breath as she placed the cuff around my arm and began taking my blood pressure.

"I see," she said as she looked at the watch. I bit my lip against the pain, stupid blood pressure. Ms. Mattan then took my wrist and began to take my pulse.

"Lucas said that you fell," she mentioned.

I nodded again. "I saw yellow dots and I felt dizzy."

"Can you still see them?" Ms. M didn't even look up.

"No, they're pretty much gone," I said, staring up at the ceiling trying to discount the fact that my chest was a drum at a cardio pow-wow.

"You were probably close to passing out," Ms. M informed me. "Your pulse is about ninety beats a minute." She wrote that down.

"Do you feel sick in any way?" she asked.

I shrugged. "My stomach kind of hurts," I mentioned. Ms. M. nodded and wrote that down as well.

I started to shiver as I realized that I was getting really cold. Ms. Mattan handed me a blanket and then went back to her desk. I spread it around me and huddled close. My heart seemed to get louder as I lay still.

"Michael, is one of your parents home?" Ms. M. asked me.

"My mom should be," I answered, shutting my eyes again. Stupid heart.

I assumed Ms. M. pulled out the school directory because I heard the rustle of paper and then the phone dialing.

"Mrs. Tesoro? This is Ms. Mattan, the school nurse from Middleberry High School…Yes, Michael was in gym class and apparently his heart began to race….Yes…So you already know of this?...Alright then…I took his heart rate; it's at 90 beats a minute at the moment…Yes…Yes alright….One moment."

Ms. M. cupped a hand over the mouthpiece. "Michael, how long has your heart been racing?" she asked in a softer tone.

I looked up at the clock. "I think about twenty minutes." I said. "I'm not really sure."

Mrs. Mattan got back on the phone. "He says around twenty minutes…Uh huh…" She cupped the mouthpiece again.

"Michael, would you like to go home?" she asked.

I pressed my hand to my chest to feel the pounding. It's not like I couldn't hear it and feel it already; I just wanted to make sure I wasn't delirious. "Yeah," I said slowly. "Yeah, I do."

"When can you pick him up?" Mrs. Mattan picked up the phone again. I decided to tune her out as I rolled over onto the cot so that I faced the wall. I wanted to scream. It was just so frustrating. It wasn't that my heart or chest actually hurt; it was just…uncomfortable.

My mother came into the office just as my heart returned to normal. (I forgot how near my house was to the school)

I sat up as my mom sat beside me. "Are you alright?" she asked stroking my hair.

I dodged her hand and shrugged. "I'm alright," I said gruffly. "It stopped."

Mom let out a sigh. "Thank God," she whispered.

I stood up. "Can I have a pass?" I asked Ms. Mattan. "I need to get my stuff."

Ms. Mattan quickly wrote one and handed it to me. "Third period will be ending in fifteen minutes; I'd hurry," she told me.

I nodded and hurried out the door. I had to grab my backpack and change in the locker room, and then go back to the nurse's office to get my permission-to-leave-school pass. (Honestly, hall passes can be such a pain)

************

I walked slowly through the hallway, my mind a billion miles from where it should be._ So much for one of those "once in a lifetime things__,"_ I thought bitterly. This was so stupid; why was my heart, of all things, acting up like this?

I walked into the locker room, praying no one would be in there. My wish came true; the locker room was empty. I quickly changed into my regular jeans and t-shirt and grabbed my backpack, heading out the door.

_I mean, why is it doing this? _I continued my rant as I went to my locker to gather up all my books._ No one else has something like this in my family; at least, I don't think so._

I was just about to walk into the office when someone called out my name. I turned around to the familiar voice.

"Hey Bumlets," I said weakly. I was _not_ in the mood to talk.

"How ya doing?" Bumlets asked, jogging up to me.

I shrugged. "Alright." I could only think, _thank God he isn't in my gym class._

Bumlets examined my face. "Are you sure?" he asked. "You look a little pale."

I nodded tightly. He looked down at my backpack.

"Goin' somewhere?" he asked, giving me a grin.

I inwardly groaned. _Why did Bumlets have to choose today to be the most inquisitive person on the planet?_

"I'm just not feeling so good," I finally said.

"Oh." Bumlets looked searchingly at me one more time and then clapped my back. "Well, I hope you feel better buddy!"

I tried to smile, hoping I didn't look like too much of a dope. Bumlets gave me one more good natured smile and then headed off to his classroom. I took a deep breath and then hurried back to the nurse's office, hoping to avoid any more confrontations.

*****

"You ready honey?" Mom asked with a shaky smile, as I walked into the nurse's office.

I barely nodded. Mom gathered up her purse, shook hands with Ms. M., and then we went out the door. It was dead silent when we climbed into the car. When we were halfway down the road, Mom started to talk.

"Michael, how many times has this…this…" she paused for the right word.

"Heart thing," I supplied, staring out the window.

"Heart thing." Mom nodded. "How many times has it happened?"

I shrugged. "About three or four times."

Mom nodded and grew silent. I was inwardly relived. I really didn't want to talk about it right then.

"How long has the longest one been?" Mom asked.

I sighed, wanting to roll my eyes. "This was the longest one."

"Hmm…" Mom murmured. "What about—"

I turned sharply. "Mom, can we quit talking about this?" I asked quickly.

Mom seemed surprised by my look but then nodded. "Alright honey," she said softly. Maybe she could tell how stressed I was because she quit talking and started concentrating on the road.

***********

When we got home, I hurried to my room and shut the door. I then curled up in my bed and let the tears fall. Clutching my pillow, I drenched the world in salty tears. Looking back on it, I blame my hormones; they ruin everything. I eventually fell asleep on a cold and damp pillow.

When I woke up, it was 4:30. "Aww, crap," I muttered, easing out of bed. I saw a note by my bed and picked it up. It was from Mom.

"_Dear Michael,"_ it read_. "I went to the airport to pick up Dad. Didn't want to wake you. Be back around five. Love, Mom." _

I re-read it. Dad was coming home tonight. I couldn't believe I had forgotten that. I scrunched up my face. I hadn't seen my dad in two weeks and now I had to wait even longer. Anger boiled up inside of me and I crumpled up the piece of paper then hurled it to the wall, hoping to cause it some pain. But, since it was a piece of paper, it hovered about five inches away from me and then floated to the floor.

I sighed and then picked it up, smoothing out the paper so that I could again read the scribbled writing. I heaved another great sigh.

This heart thing was ruining everything.

* * *

**A/N:** Two things before I leave; 1) The reference to Tug was the "Ms. Connolly" from Mr. Wilson in the last chapter 2) Skittery Week dates are up! Both Laelyn and I are doing it the week of our dear Michael Goorjian's birthday. :) February 4th-11th. Sign up! Remember how fun Mush Week was and how much fun Delancey Week is going to be! ;) Anyhoo, thanks for reading!

CTB!

AdrenalineRush16


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I own no one you recognize.  
_

**A/N:** Another long update; I'm sorry guys. I'm trying to push out the updates faster but school (and writer's block) have been making it hard. :( I hope you guys enjoy this chapter though; there's major fluff ahead. :) R&R please!

* * *

**Chapter Five**

I was trying to figure out my math homework when I heard the sound of the front door opening. A big "I'm home!" told me exactly who it was. I jumped at the sound of my father's voice and then sprinted downstairs. I had missed my dad a lot.

I barreled into him and had my arms around him before he could take off his coat. I didn't care though. The little kid inside of me had been longing for my dad's protection for a long time and now that he was back, all I could do was hold him tight.

Dad's laughter pealed out and he squeezed me just as hard. "How have you been doing sport?" he asked still chuckling. I didn't answer, couldn't. The familiar smell of my dad's aftershave surrounded me and the aroma of his leather coat went into my nostrils. I couldn't think of a better scent to smell.

Dad then pushed me away and looked deep into my eyes. I blinked away some tears that were threatening to escape and tried to smile. Dad's smile softened and he pulled me close again. "Mom's was telling me how something's been going on with your heart lately?" he asked softly.

I nodded, my head still buried in his coat. He squeezed me tight and then let go. "Well, we'll talk about it during dinner and then set up an appointment with Dr. Hoffman." He said cheerfully and then took off his coat.

I nodded. "Uh, yeah. Okay." Dad flashed me another smile and then went into the kitchen with my mom. I trailed behind him, a knot of fear forming in my stomach.

* * *

"So, it just speeds up?" Dad said, pushing his plate away.

I nodded. "But it also gets louder. I can feel it in my head."

Dad frowned and just "hmm'd" It was quiet until the phone rang. Mom got it and then came back.

"It's Lucas." She said, holding out the phone.

I stood up and took the phone. Then I headed into the den and curled up my favorite chair. "Hey Snitch." I finally said when I was good and comfortable.

"Hi Itey!" Snitch's cheerful reply came through loud and clear. "I was just checkin' about that sleepover we were talking about for tomorrow."

I smacked my forehead. "I completely forgot!" I exclaimed. "Hold on, I'll ask my parents." I cupped my hand over the receiver and hollered; "MOM!"

"Yeah honey?" My mother's voice answered.

"Can I have Snitch sleepover Friday night?"

There was a pause before she answered. "Alright, fine."

I grinned and then spoke into the phone again. "Yup, you can."

"Fun!" Snitch said excitedly. "What time?"

"Five thirty?" I suggested. It was our regular time. "Hey, do you mind if it's just you and me? I don't know if we could round up all the guys by tomorrow."

"Don't matter to me man." Snitch answered.

"Cool." I said, and we fell silent.

"Uh, yeah..." Snitch said after a few moments. He sounded like he wanted to say something and I had a pretty good hunch about what it was about.

"About that thing today…" He said awkwardly.

"What thing?" Maybe I was being difficult, but I didn't care. I was sick of the mention of my heart thing.

Snitch sighed. "You know that thing at the nurse's office."

I didn't answer. He sighed again. "Itey-"

"Michael?" my dad's voice called.

"Yeah?!" I hollered. "Gotta get off Snitch, sorry." I said quickly, wanting to end the conversation. "See ya tomorrow!" I hung up before he could say anything else and breathed a sigh of relief.

My dad walked into the den and gave me a smile. "I just talked to Dr. Hoffman on my cell phone." He said. "She recommended us to a cardiologist in the hospital, Dr. Decko. We're going to see her Thursday afternoon."

I nodded. "Okay."

Dad clapped my back. "Just a heads-up." He said and walked out of the den. I smiled at him, but it faded as soon as he left the room. I pulled my blanket over me and groaned. More doctors meant more blood pressure. Dang.

_At least we'll know what's going on._ I told myself.

I then shrugged. _I still wish we didn't have to go to a doctor. _I thought unhappily. _Too scary.

* * *

_"Well, you still alive?" was Spot's blunt question when I walked into English class. (I have him, Skittery, and Snitch with me in that class)

I smiled. "Yeah, I'm alive."

Spot smirked. "Almost got worried about you yesterday."

I shrugged. "It wasn't anything big," I said nonchalantly.

Spot smiled and headed back to his seat as our teacher, Mr. Denton, started class. "Alright, we're now going to start a unit on journalism…"

I kept one ear and eye trained on my teacher, but the other two revolved towards was sitting next to me and seemed to be in his own world. I nudged him and then wrote on my sheet of paper (the one was I was supposed to be taking notes on) and wrote, "What's wrong?"

Snitch looked at me briefly and then quickly looked away. "Nothing," he wrote quickly and then scratched down some notes.

I gave him a thoughtful was definitely bugging him but class wasn't the best place to ask. I resolved to bug him about it at lunch.

* * *

"So, seriously man, what's wrong?" I asked, trying to get an uncooperative Snitch to answer some questions in the hallway. (I couldn't wait until lunch; Snitch had been moody and quiet the whole English period)

He gave me a dark glance. "Nothing, I'm fine," he said tightly.

I folded my arms. "I know something's wrong," I told him trying to keep a firm look on my face.

He walked up to me and put his face close to mine. "Look, I just need to talk to you," he said, glaring.

"We are talking," I said, confused.

He rolled his eyes. "Not here. We'll do it tonight; people are watching."

I sighed. "Fine, but I'll hold you to that 'll talk tonight." He gave me a curt nod and then walked to his locker. I sighed but dropped the subject and went to my next class.

* * *

DING DONG!

I went to get the doorbell, knowing it was Snitch. "Hey," I greeted, keeping a deadpan look on my face. I had been thinking about what had been wrong with Snitch all of today and I had a pretty good idea of what it was. Just thinking about that had put me in a somber mood.

It seemed Snitch was the same because instead of bounding in the doorway grinning, he looked just as deadpan as I did. "Hey," he answered quietly.

We walked into the den and sat on the floor, looking at each other.I've never had a more awkward moment with my best friend.

"So uh, what'd you want to talk to me about?" I asked casually, as if I didn't already know.

Snitch suddenly found a fascination with the carpet and didn't look up. "Well…" he mumbled. "Its just about well…whathappenedyeseterdayand…mumble, mumble…almostblackedout…mumble," he said quickly.

I blinked. "Um, could you repeat that?" I asked carefully.

Snitch finally looked up and I saw the worried look on his face.

"Well…" he said awkwardly. "What happened yesterday?" he finally asked.

Even though I knew the question was coming, I still looked away guiltily. "Well, we're not exactly sure," I said just as awkwardly as he did.

Snitch frowned. "What do you mean?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, there's something going on with my heart; we just don't know what it is yet."

Snitch gave me a confused look. "Huh?"

I sighed. "Well, with my heart…" I trailed off, fumbling to find the right words. "It goes really fast," I said quickly.

If this hadn't been so serious, I would've laughed at Snitch's confused face. "Most hearts do," he said, raising an eyebrow.

I groaned. "Not like that," I said glaring. "I mean, it like goes twice as fast and gets really loud." Snitch was still giving me a weird look. "It's hard to explain," I said, sighing. "But we're going to see some cardiologist on Monday to find out what it is."

Snitch still looked a little confused. "So was that what was going on in gym class?"

I nodded. "The heart thing started up and whenever I exercise, and it happens, I start to get really tired and sometimes dizzy."

"How long have you had this?" Snitch asked, looking at me curiously.

I gave him a sheepish look. "Since Tuesday." Snitch smirked and I hastily added, "It only started to get bad yesterday."

"You're okay now though, right?" he asked anxiously.

I smiled and nodded. "I'm okay when it doesn't happen."

Snitch grinned. "Then let's go play some video games!" he cried jumping up and pulling me off the ground.I laughed and we ran out of the den, off to have some fun.

* * *

**A/N: **I'd appreciate a review or two. :) Thanks for reading! Keep on carryin' the banner everyone! :D

As always,

AdrenalineRush16


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I'm kinda getting sick of this disclaimer, but I honestly don't have a better one, so I'll just tell you to see chapter one's disclaimer. ;D_

**A/N:** This long time between updates is turning out to be regular huh? ;) I'm sorry; school has been really stressful lately and I haven't had a lot of time to write. This chapter was also kind of hard to do too, so that didn't help. :( I hope you guys like the chapter! :D

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Having Snitch over helped a lot, but my happy mood began to fade Sunday afternoon. I was broody, restless, and fearful for the whole week. _Stupid heart_, I thought for the millionth time. I hoped and prayed that Thursday would never come.

Unsurprisingly, it came.

I was as crabby as Skittery all day.

I think Snitch knew why, so he didn't press me. And since Dutchy and Pie Eater were on sugar highs (from pie naturally), everyone was too busy gaping or glaring at them.

"You'll be fine," Snitch told me in a low voice as I headed towards the office.

I forced a smile and shrugged. "I know," I said nonchalantly. Maybe I was scared to death, but Snitch didn't have to know that. I went into the office where my mom was waiting and we walked silently to the car.

Dad met us at the clinic. It was large and luxurious. I suddenly realized how much my parents must've had to pay for this appointment. A surge of guilt coursed through me.

"Michael Tesoro," Dad told the secretary as mom and I sat down.

"You don't think they'll have to take blood do you?" I asked my mother anxiously. If there anything I hate more than having my blood pressure taken, it's having blood drawn or having shots.

She smiled and patted my hand. "I'm not sure, probably not."

I settled back in my chair, my nerves not calmed in the least. My scowl deepened.

"Michael Tesoro?" a nurse asked, holding a clipboard.

I stood up reluctantly. "That's me." I sighed and headed towards her. She gave me a kind smile, but I was too irritated to care. We walked to a small room.

"If you could take off your shoes," she asked, still smiling. I slipped them off and she measured and weighed me.

"Please get on the table and take off your shirt," she told me.

I slipped off my shirt and got on the table, slightly weirded out. I don't mind having my shirt off, but nurses tend to scare me a little. She wheeled a small cart into the room and started pulling out some wires. I bit my lip.

"I'm going to do what is called an EKG before you see Dr. Dekko." She was still smiling and it was beginning to bug me. "It's to check your heart's electrical activity. Please lie down."

I did as she said and watched her warily as she pulled out some small, circular stickers and began to place them in a semi-circle around my chest: two on either side of my collarbone, one on the inside of my left elbow and two on either ankle. Then she took the wires and clamped one onto each sticker.

"Now, I'm going to need you to be very still and breathe normally," she told me, flipping on a switch.

I was about to ask if it would hurt or not, but then I decided against it. _Be a man, _I told myself. _Strong, remember?_ The machine gave a little _whirr_ and I took a few small breaths. Then the nurse flipped the switch off and started removing the stickers.

"That's it?" I asked, blinking.

"Mmm hmm," she answered, pulling off the last of the stickers. I sat up as my parents came in. "You can see Dr. Dekko now," the nurse said, leading us into another small room. I sat on another table as my parents made themselves comfortable on some chairs.

Mom and Dad smiled at me, but didn't say a lot. I hated how quiet it was. It was almost a relief when Dr. Dekko came in. She had a grave, no-nonsense look on her face and I wondered why she was a doctor. (Mom later explained that since the doctor was saving lives everyday, it wasn't a very smiley job.)

"Good afternoon," she said calmly, shaking hands with my parents. "I understand that Michael has had something strange going on with his heart?"

_Well she doesn't beat around the bush does she? _I thought.

My mom nodded and Dr. Dekko turned to me. "What exactly happens?" she asked. I tried to explain as best I could, but it was hard.

She nodded. "Does it really get faster, or just louder?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to think. "Well, it does get louder so it feels faster."

"But does it become faster?" Dr. Dekko prodded.

I thought for a moment. "Yeah," I finally said. "It does."

She nodded. "How frequently does this happen?"

I shrugged. "It depends; I can have a few a day or not have any for a few days."

Dr. Dekko nodded again and pulled some papers out of her file. "Well, I've got your electrocardiogram results back." She handed the papers to mom and dad. "Nothing seems to be wrong, but I'm going to listen to Michael's heartbeat and then we're going to do an ultra-sound just in case."

I frowned. Wasn't that for pregnant women?

I didn't have time to ask, because as soon as the doctor had checked my heartbeat, she left and the nurse came back in.

"You'll have to have your shirt off again," she told me apologetically and after I pulled my t-shirt off again, we headed down the hallway.

"Would you like a movie to be put in?" she asked me opening a cabinet. "It will take almost a half hour to do."

My eyes bugged out at the sight of all those movies. While my parents talked with the nurse, I looked at the movie selection. They had quite a selection. I finally pulled out Robin Hood (even though I made my parents promise later to never tell any of the guys.)

Clutching my movie, I followed the nurse into a small dimly lit room, where my parents and an Italian man was waiting.

"Lay down please." He gestured to a table, similar to the one I took my EKG on. I gingerly climbed onto it and lay down. He popped in the movie and turned off all the lights, so that the only light came from the TV and the green computer screen.

The Italian guy put on some glasses, took a small tool in his right hand, and squirted some clear gel onto the top of it. Then he began to apply it to my chest. It felt cold and sticky. My mom found my hand and held it tightly.

"Breathe deep," the man said, staring at the screen and pushing down on the tool. I took deep breaths. The man moved the tool to the upper part of my chest and repeated his words. This went on for a few more times, except at different spots on my chest and he occasionally told me to hold my breath as he pushed down. The only time it hurt was when he pressed it to my Adam's Apple and told me to hold my breath for what seemed like an eternity.

After thirty minutes of this, he said "done," and switched off the film. He handed me a paper towel and I wiped off the gel stuff. A nurse led us back to our little room and told us that Dr. Dekko would be there as soon as they got the results. I sat on the table again, almost dizzy with all that was going on.

"That wasn't so bad was it sport?" Dad asked me cheerily.

I tried to smile. To tell the truth, I was a little creeped out by what had just happened. "It was okay," I finally said.

Dad grinned. "Isn't it amazing what they can do with technology nowadays? Did you see the screen?" he asked me.

I shook my head.

His grin grew wider. "Well, it was just amazing what it showed; it was like an x-ray of your heart except right there on the screen!" I've never seen my dad so amazed about something medical.

I nodded, not knowing what to say and looking to my mom for help. Mom only looked amused. It took ten more minutes before Dr. Dekko came back into the room.

"Did you find out what is wrong with Michael?" my mom asked her.

Dr. Dekko shook her head. "Nothing unordinary shows up on the ultrasound," she said. "Everything looks normal."

My parents looked relieved and I suppose I should've too, but I couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with me then?"

Dr. Dekko looked at me. "We're not sure," she answered. "We'd have to listen to your heart speed up to know what it is."

"Then what should we do?" Mom asked.

The doctor hesitated and then spoke again. "There are two options," she explained. "One is to do nothing," she glanced at me. "Or you could get a heart monitor so that we can track it."

"A heart monitor?" Dad asked.

Dr. Dekko nodded. "Yes. It would be hooked up to Michael at all times and whenever this heart thing would start, he would have to press a button and it would record his heartbeat for about twenty seconds."

My jaw dropped. A heart monitor?

"It isn't really recommended for someone his age." Dr. Dekko continued.

"Why not?" Dad asked.

"Because he would need to wear it all the time." The doctor was looking straight at me now. "Most kids can't handle that responsibility."

I bit my lip. I was a little insulted by her briskness, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to wear a heart monitor.

"How long would he need it?" Mom asked.

Dr. Dekko shrugged. "We would need as many recordings as possible but the usual length is about thirty days. It depends how many he has." She stood up. "I'll come back in a few minutes to hear your decision." Then she left and my parents turned to me.

"I'd prefer him to wear one," Mom said anxiously. "I want to know what this is."

Dad rubbed her arm. "I think it should be up to Michael," he said gently. Both my parents looked at me.

I felt a little embarrassed. "I don't know," I said awkwardly. "Would it be a big thing?"

Dad shook his head. "It'd probably be something small, just something that would be on your hip. It wouldn't affect you a lot in school or sports."

Looking down at my hands, I tried to imagine what it'd be like to wear a heart monitor. It didn't sound all that fun.

As if he read my mind, Dad said; "It'd only be for a month or so, son."

I nodded, my mind made up. I looked up. "I'll do it."

* * *

**A/N**: Is asking for a review too much trouble? ;) Have a great week everyone and don't forget to keep carrying the banner!

As always,

AdrenalineRush16

P.S. Congrats to **stress **for winning Skittery Week '09! It was a great contest and all the entries were fun to read. :D


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I own newsie merchandise, but not the guys. It's a very sad fact in life... :`(_

**Author's Note:** Thanks to Bumlets girl for helping me get going on this; all the nagging helps! :D Hope ya'll like this chapter! (even though it's short) :D

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

"You're sure about this?" Dad asked, searching my face.

I nodded, more certain than ever. "I want to know what this is, I told him firmly.

Dad smiled as Mom let out a huge sigh of relief. "I'm glad," she said quietly, giving me a hug.

"Mo-om." I wriggled out of her embrace.

"It's not like anyone can see you," she said rolling her eyes, but she smiled anyway.

KNOCK, KNOCK

Dr. Dekko poked her head inside the door. "Have we made our decision?" she asked, coming in.

My parents and I looked at each other. "I want to do it," I told her.

She nodded. "I'll have Rachel come in and bring you the kit and show you how it works." She shook hands with my parents. "I will talk to you in a month then."

My parents and I looked at each other as she left the room. "She's pretty brisk isn't she?" I finally commented.

My dad thought that was hilarious and my mom ended up getting the giggles. I huffed. I can't stand it when my mom and dad don't take me seriously.

The nurse came in then and my mom stopped her giggle-fest. The nurse was completely deadpan as she walked up to me, carrying a small blue bag.

"This is the heart monitor," she told me, pulling from the bag a rectangular object, a little bigger than an original iPod. It was black, with a small gray screen at the top and black buttons on the side. The nurse then pulled out a wire that split into two halfway up with a node on the end of each.

"This end of the wire," the nurse said, indicating to the half with just one wire, "attaches to the monitor itself and that turns it on." She demonstrated plugging one end into monitor. It beeped three times and then flashed a small symbol on the gray screen. "That means that it's fully charged and ready," she explained, and then indicated to the other end of the wire. "These two nodes attach to the stickers that will be on your chest." She pulled out a sheet filled with stickers from the bag. The stickers were circular, white and had metal electrodes on the end of them.

"You'll put two of these stickers on your chest and then attach these electrodes to them," she continued. "Whenever you have a rapid heartbeat, you will press this button." She pointed to the circular button in the middle. "It will record your heart rate for twenty seconds."

"How often will Michael have to wear this?" Mom asked the nurse.

"All the time except in water," the nurse said firmly, and then set about showing me where to put the stickers. One sticker went about four inches down from my collarbone on my right side and the other went at the top of the left side of my rib cage. The nurse also gave me some batteries for the heart monitor, in case it ever ran out. She gave me a sheet of instructions on how to send in the recordings, since the heart monitor could only hold three recordings at a time.

"How often does he need change the patches?" Dad asked. I was wondering that to, but my head was spinning with all the information so that I was a little dazed.

"About every two days," the nurse told us, putting the stickers on me and clipping the heart monitor to my belt. "Remember," she cautioned. "You have to wear the stickers all the time, but you need to keep the actual monitor and wires away from water."

I nodded, my head whirling. "Thanks."

She nodded and then picked up her stuff. "Good luck. We'll hear from you in a month," the nurse said, heading out the door.

I let out a huge breath and Dad grinned at me. "Pretty heavy stuff huh?"

I let out a yawn, rubbing my eyes. "Yeah."

"Ready to go?' he asked and I nodded. Mom gave me a tight squeeze as we left the office and headed home.

Ping, ping, ping.

I sat at my keyboard, pushing down random keys. I had finished all my homework for the day and was feeling very solitary. I didn't want to talk to anyone or do anything. I was bored, but I had no clue what to do, so I just sat at my piano and pushed down some keys. I tried playing some tunes, but I kept messing up, so I quickly abandoned that idea.

My head was just a whirl with all the things that had happened at the doctor's office. I glanced down at the small object, clipped to my belt. It was hard to believe such a small device could hold recordings of my heartbeat.

I fiddled with the device, turning it over in my hands. There wasn't much to see actually; all it was a small black box that was a little bigger than an iPod. Nothing much at all. I pressed the on the circular button in the middle and the monitor beeped a few times.

I looked up quickly; hoping neither of my parents heard it. The small symbol at the top of the gray screen stopped flashing. I gulped. Was it recording?

I found my answer when it beeped again and started the usual flashing up. I then pressed the black button on the side, the one the nurse had told me releases the recordings, and immediately, the monitor started a high pitched wail. I threw it under my pillow and looked up to make sure my door was closed. The wail kept going. I prayed my parents wouldn't hear it.

After almost a minute of this, it stopped. I brought it out gingerly from my pillow and flipped it over. The symbol was flashing still and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

I sighed and clipped it back onto my belt. I had a feeling having this monitor would be a real pain.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Two things before I go; 1) Both huffle-bibin and Smiley94 are hosting character weeks! Bibbi's is Pulitzer & Hearst Week, March 19th-26th and Smiley's is Tumbler Week, May 10th-17th. Hope everyone can enter cuz it'll be fun! :)

2) Mind sending me a review? ;D

Later!

~AdrenR16


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: Disney owns...  
_

**Author's Note:** Thought I was dead, didn't ya? ;D Well, I haven't updated in a while (almost a month). Heh, my apologies. Remember, if I don't update a while, check my profile page; I'll usually have a reason for not updating (school, writer's block, sometimes both). Anyway, with that gone, on with the show everybody!

* * *

"Ugh…you stupid thing…hmmph."

I'm sure that if anyone had been standing outside my door at 10: 30 PM that Thursday night, they would've been greatly disturbed by the sounds of my mutterings. However, I was _not _talking to myself; in reality, I was muttering to my heart monitor.

It was quite sad actually; I had had that monitor for little over five hours and I was already sick of it. See, the problem was that I had to wear the monitor all the time, except when I was in water. So in other words, I had to wear it when I sleeping, as well as when I was just relaxing. Now, the thing to know about me is that I tend to turn around a lot before I actually fall asleep. I roll around for at least a half an hour before actually conking out.

I was trying to fall asleep on my right side, so I would slide the monitor on my left hip. But when I rolled onto my left side, the monitor would slide under me, which wasn't very comfortable to sleep on. So, I would have to switch it around again and then when I rolled over, the whole stupid process would repeat.

I experimented with it for about twenty minutes before I rolled out of bed and stomped into my parents' room.

"I can't sleep with this thing!" I cried to my mom, who was sitting in bed reading (my dad was already asleep).

She took one look at me and then giggled. "What's the problem?" she asked smiling.

I told her and she chuckled again. I huffed.

"Well, you've never had them at night before have you?" she asked when she got her face under control.

I shook my head. "Never."

"Then I don't think you need to sleep with it on," she said thoughtfully.

My eyes bugged out. "You want me to go against doctor's orders?"

She got a mischievous look on her face. "I won't tell if you won't."

I smirked. "Right."

"Just keep it by your bed to put it back on in the morning and you'll be fine," Mom told me.

I nodded. "Okay. Thanks Mom."

She smiled. "You're welcome. Good night."

I waved as I walked out of the room. "Night."

Unclipping the monitor from my waist and unplugging the wire connected to it, I slid back into bed, enjoying the comfort of moving freely again. Finally beginning to settle down, I began to get drowsy, but the thought still lingered in the back of my head, what will happen to me next...

BEEP!!!!!

I groaned and rolled over as my alarm went off. I did _not _want to get up. But knowing that I had to or I'd be late for school, I rolled out of bed and started to get ready. I sighed as I clipped on the heart monitor. I would have to get used to wearing bigger t-shirts so that nobody would see the monitor.

After eating and saying goodbye to my mom (who reminded me about the heart monitor, and I reassured her that I had it,) I walked across the street to Snitch's house. I went right inside, knowing that Snitch would be the only one in the house. I knew that his dad had left for work hours earlier and his mom was dropping his five year old sister Ellie off at preschool before going to work.

"Heya Snitch," I greeted him, breezing into his kitchen. My friend was sitting cross-legged on top of the kitchen counter, texting with his phone while balancing a bowl of cereal in his lap.

"Har-ro," he mumbled, his mouth full of food.

"You have the worst manners ever, you know that?" I told him, although I hopped onto the counter with him. "Whatcha doin'?"

Snitch swallowed his food. "Textin' Bumlets," he said, sliding his phone into his pocket and finishing off his cereal. "How much time until we have to leave?"

I checked my watch. "About…now."

Snitch groaned and wiped his mouth. "Let's go then, I can't be late to biology again." he said, darting out the door.

"You forgot your backpack!" I called, still inside the house.

Snitch glared at me as he ran back in and then locked the door. I smirked and chased after him. We ran a block, and then slowed to a walk as we reached the bus stop.

Snitch then pulled out his phone again. " 'See ya at school then. –Bums. P.S. Zoe says, 'hi'?" he read aloud, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Oo-oo, Zoe," I teased in a sing-song voice.

"Oh boy," Snitch smacked his hand against his face and slowly brought it down.

Zoe was one of Bumlets' youngest siblings - he has a large family. She was the same age as Snitch's sister, Ellie, and happened to be her best friend as well. Zoe also had the biggest crush on Snitch. It was actually kind of cute, in a way, since she went all heart-eyes whenever she saw him, but it drove Snitch crazy. (The funny thing is, is that Snitch is too nice to actually tell her to go away, and so she thinks that he returns her 'affections'.)

I finally stopped chuckling when the bus came and we climbed on. We were halfway to our seats when Snitch suddenly turned around and said to me, "So how'd that doctor's appointment go yesterday?"

I was dumbfounded for a few moments and didn't answer until we had sat down. I hadn't expected Snitch to actually ask me about the appointment. True, I had been worried about it for a week, but it wasn't like him to seem so concerned.

"It was okay," I stuttered out of a response.

Snitch nodded. "So, did you find out what it was?" he asked casually.

We looked at each other, and then quickly looked away. I then realized that Snitch was as uncomfortable talking about this as I was. He seemed genuinely worried.

"Um, no." I answered, fumbling for the right words. "But we're gonna run some tests and then…uh, you know…" Snitch was now looking directly at me. "We'll just find out what it is…eventually," I finished lamely and tried to smile.

"Uh huh." Snitch gave me one last look and then looked away.

I looked away too. I didn't know why I wasn't telling him about the heart monitor, although I knew that he'd find out eventually since I'd be wearing it for a month. But I still didn't talk about it and we ended up not saying anything else for the rest of the bus ride.

"Alright Bums, so what's up with the Zoe thing?" was the first thing that Snitch said the second we stepped off the bus.

Bumlets was leaning against the wall, waiting patiently for Snoddy to reassure his mom that he was okay. (Snoddy has asthma, and as a result, his already protective mother got even crazier. So he has to spend ten minutes every morning convincing his mother that he does have his inhaler and no, he won't over exert himself, blah blah blah. I feel really bad for him sometimes…and then I tease him about it like all the other guys. Heh.)

Bumlets turned towards us, a grin lighting up his face. "Zoe just wanted to make sure that you knew she cared," he said, winking.

"As if he doesn't already know," I said, laughing.

Snitch groaned, and gave me a sharp jab in the ribs. "Can't you tell her that I'm way too old for her?"

Bumlets shrugged, pretending not to care, although we all knew that Bumlets felt bad for Snitch. But he didn't feel so bad that he did anything about it. "Tell her yourself."

Snitch rolled his eyes. "Yeah right."

I sometimes think that Snitch is still afraid of girls that aren't family, even though Zoe is much younger than him. It's pretty funny.

"Hey guys!" Swifty came flying up to us, leaping onto the recently-freed Snoddy's back.

"Be careful darling!" Snoddy's mom hollered out the car window.

"Aw, cut it out Swifty." Snoddy groaned as Swifty rolled off him. "Do ya hafta do that when my mom's watching?"

"When your mom's watching?" Swifty mimicked in a high voice. Snoddy turned bright red and then groaned. We all got a big laugh out of that.

"So, Mr. Eye-Talian and Mr. Snitch, how was the bus today?" Swifty asked, hooking an arm around me and Snitch; putting on his snooty, sophisticated voice just to tease us. "Was it as perfectly divine and exquisite per usual?"

I rolled my eyes. Swifty was definitely in a silly mood. It was funny to see though, because usually Pie and Dutchy are the ones who are all crazy. (I still think that he might've had an energy drink before school though.)

Snitch pushed Swifty's arm off him. "What is up with you this morning?" he asked grouchily. (I think the business with Zoe got him all irritated.)

I decided to play along. "Well, Mr. Swifty the Rake," I answered, sticking my nose in the air. "It was perfectly loud and bumpy- an ideal ride."

"How lovely," Swifty answered and then dissolved into a fit of laughter at my acting; Bumlets and Snoddy joined.

"I don't see why you don't act," Bumlets commented smiling. "You'd be great."

I shrugged nonchalantly, but Bumlets' praise warmed me and made me almost forget about the monitor on my belt.

"I think I'll stick the piano," I answered. "It suits me just fine."

The bell then rang.

"Alright, come on you, nutcases," Snitch said, heading in. Swifty gave me one last grin before going to work some laughing-magic on a grumpy Snitch.

"Let's go Itey," Bumlets said, clapping my back. "We don't want to be late to math. See ya Snoddy!"

Snoddy waved goodbye as Bumlets and I went to the math hallway.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I've got a new pole up on my homepage about how I can make this fic better, so if you guys could vote in it, that'd be great. I tried to put in all the stuff that people already voted on, but if you guys have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. :D Thanks for reading!

As always,

AdrenalineRush16


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: See previous chapters...

* * *

_

**Chapter Nine**

Math class had actually gone pretty fast for once and I headed to gym class after the bell rang. While I walked through the hallway, a thought hit me: I was going to have to change clothes, therefore showing my patched-up chest. Suddenly the idea of keeping the heart monitor a secret didn't seem as easy anymore; I wasn't planning on any of the guys finding out for a few days, or at least until I could think up a good explanation to the whole thing.

I considered a few excuses to miss class as I passed by the main office. _Maybe I could get sick_? ._Nah, that already happened and I wouldn't be able to fool Mom with that one. And the guys would know the truth once they found out about the monitor. _

I tried to think up a good explanation of what to say to them, but time had run out as I walked into the gym. I decided that not to say anything and face the wall when I changed. There was a chance that they wouldn't notice at all. Looking back on it, that was a pretty stupid choice on my part.

I walked over to where Kid Blink, Race and Spot were.

"Hey guys." I greeted them with a smile. _Act like nothing's wrong_. _It's like Bumlets said, you can be a good actor when you put your mind to it. _

"Hey Itey," Kid said giving me a gentle punch on the shoulder. Racetrack gave a nod and then resumed his conversation with Spot.

I walked over to where Snitch was leaning against the wall, his nose in a science textbook.

"Hey man!" I greeted, feigning happiness and sliding down next to him.

"Hey Itey," Snitch said distantly.

I sighed in relief and stared off into space. I was glad Snitch wasn't in a talkative mood; I wasn't either.

He quickly scribbled down a few numbers and then slammed the textbook shut.

"Done," he said, sounding satisfied. "No science homework tonight."

I groaned. "Lucky."

Just then Jack ran up to us, hauling David Jacobs behind him. Davey - or the Walkin' Mouth - was the newest addition to our gang. I'll never understand how he got mixed up with Jack Kelly, because he is the studious type of kid, real small and quiet. He's a nice kid though, so I can respect that. Jack gave a nod. "Hey fellas!"

"Alright, go get changed!" Mr. Song barked just as the bell rang. Swifty came flying into the gym just as the bell stopped, shooting across the floor with a slide that would have made Babe Ruth proud.

"Nice one man," Jack said, complimenting Swifty, who had got up and was dusting off his pants.

"Thanks," he said grinning.

"You got lucky that time Swifty," Mr. Song warned him, marking his clipboard. Swifty just kept smiling and headed toward the locker room with us.

"You warming up for baseball season then?" Spot winked at Swifty, (they're on the team together.)

Swifty just grinned again. "Can't start too early."

I stopped just before going in the door, thinking that I should probably tell Mr. Song about the heart monitor, and then I would be able to change when the other guys were done. I was about to go through with my newly thought out plan when Kid grabbed my shoulders and pushed me through the door; I had been blocking his way.

"C'mon Itey!" he cried as he headed to our bay of lockers.

"You're a slowpoke today," Racetrack commented as I lingered by the door.

"Uh, I need to talk to Mr. Song guys," I said casually, trying to sneak back out.

"About what?" Davey asked. I inwardly groaned. I wanted to murder him.

"Tell Song later," Snitch told me in response to my silence.

I sighed and headed towards my locker. The guys would find out eventually anyway.

I slid the monitor towards the front of my pants and pulled off my shirt while facing the wall. Just because they were going to find out, didn't mean it had to be today. There was a chance that they wouldn't see it. I hoped that I'd get lucky and they wouldn't.

Luck was not with me.

Had the circumstances been different, the situation might have been funny, but as they weren't it was far from funny. Davey's eyes bugged out and he let out a gasp and said loudly, "What happened, Itey?"

"Huh?" Jack turned around. "What's up Dave?"

"Look at Itey's chest!" Davey looked almost pale.

I turned around slowly, watching the boys' confused faces turn into utter horror.

"Itey…what happened?" Swifty asked, his eyes huge.

"I have a heart monitor," I said dryly, all of a sudden in one of the most unfeeling moods I've ever had. "Deal with it." I then clipped the monitor to my shorts and strolled out of the locker room, ignoring the questions and hurt looks that followed. I was feeling fiercer and taller than I ever had before, but I couldn't get the look on Snitch's face out of my mind.

I suppose it wasn't too much of a surprise that all the other guys practically ignored me for the rest of the period. Well, no, that's not quite true. Blink and Swifty tried to talk to me about the heart monitor, which I refused to explain. I don't know why I was so unfeeling towards them; I guess I just felt so lousy that I couldn't talk about what was wrong. They didn't know why I had this heart monitor, but frankly, I didn't really care.

So, Swifty and Blink prodded me about the monitor, but I refused to talk, and then Jack and Davey tried to act like nothing was wrong, but we all knew that something was. Racetrack and Spot seemed like the only ones who understood it, or some part of what it was. I could just see something in Racetrack's dark eyes as he gazed at me - something like he understood what was wrong, and he was okay with not saying anything. That was the cool thing about Racetrack: he understood things. And Spot, well, he knows things and this seemed to be something he wouldn't prod.

Snitch didn't speak a word to me at all though. I didn't care that much. Well, I did feel bad about lying to him about nothing going on, but at the moment, it didn't matter all that much to me. Didn't I have a right to keep the monitor a secret if I wanted to? I didn't want to talk about the subject and Snitch refusing to speak with me made it even easier.

Anyway, with the other guys, once they figured out that I wasn't going to open up, they left me alone. And honestly, I wanted to be alone. It was kind of hard to do during gym class, but I knew that I could be as quiet as a mouse in English.

---

"And so, I want you to write the rough draft of your problem/solution paper by Monday." Mr. Denton finished as the bell rang. I gathered up my books and walked quickly to my locker, snatching my lunch and then I was going to the library. I really wasn't in the mood for anyone's questions.

I found myself a table in the back of the library and sighed as complete silence - save for a few computer keys tapping - settled over the room. I cracked open a book and began working on my essay as I ate.

"Where were you?"

I looked up from my essay to Snitch's usually gentle face, now filled with anger. I inwardly groaned. Lunch was almost over, but Snitch had still managed to find me.

"I've been in here the whole time," I told him coolly, putting down my pencil. "What can I do for you?" My voice dripped with sarcasm, which was mean, but I sure as heck didn't care at the moment.

"Maybe you could tell me why you lied." Snitch had his hands on his hips.

"I don't have to tell you everything that's going on my life," I said, starting to place my food back into my bag.

"Yeah, the fact that you have for the last thirteen years has nothing to do with it." Now Snitch was the sarcastic one.

"Things change." I shrugged. "Maybe I want to keep something to myself for once."

"Oh fine, I see how it is now." Snitch threw his hands up in the air. "Yeah, your friends won't care if you don't tell them why you're fainting in gym class. We won't care if you don't tell us what the doctor's talking about." Snitch's voice was getting steadily louder. "Oh, and we _definitely_ won't care when you get a heart monitor and refuse to tell us. We're just your closet friends, we don't need to know."

"Snitch-" I tried to cut in, to try to explain, but he wouldn't let me.

"Don't 'Snitch' me, _Michael_," Snitch snapped. "I don't care, really. Have fun figuring out what new heart thing plagues you next, cuz I sure as heck won't care."

It felt like Snitch had just slapped me. He stalked away from me, hands jammed in his pockets. I stood there, tears threatening to run down my face, my conscience finally hitting me - and hitting me hard. Then that little skip-hop thing happened in my chest and the heart thing started up, sending the hard pounding throughout my entire body. I pressed the button on my monitor to record it, barely conscious of doing the action. It didn't seem to matter right then. My friendship with Snitch was more important than some stupid heart thing; or at least, it was at the moment.

I sat down on my chair and put my head on my hands. I didn't cry, but I came close. My heartbeat kept pounding and made my raging emotions worse.

Life had never seemed so horrible.

* * *

**A/N: **For those who had voted More Angst! in the poll; this chapter was for you. ;D I'd appreciate a review!

Until next time,

AdrenalineRush16


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: See previous chapters..._

**A/N: I really got to give Bumlets girl some credit for this chapter; she made me actually work on this chapter and start the next. (Yeah, I think this is the shortest update for this story ever) Thanks Smudge! (To the Newsie!muses that Smudge provided; you're coming in the next chapter, I promise!) ;D R&R please!**** ^_^**

**-Adren**

**P.S. Fair warning, MORE angst is ahead. Happy chapter will be coming next though, don't worry!**

**P.P.S. Tumbler Week starts tomorrow! (10th-17th) Hosted by Smiley94. Sign up! :D

* * *

****Chapter Ten**

My conscience bugged me all day. I had lost my best friend in two hours, all of my other friends were stiff and unsure of what to say, which made _me_ uncomfortable, AND I had another heart thing ten minutes long. Boy did life suck.

I was glad it was Friday, even though I had a lot of homework; I could go home and just sleep. I didn't want to talk to anyone and I was really out of it for the rest of the day. When the final bell rang, I moved as if I was swimming through syrup and almost missed the bus as a result. It didn't matter a lot though, since Snitch and I weren't talking, because I had no one else to sit by.

I ended up sitting in one of the front seats by all the little kids, who gave me very strange looks. One of the spiky little kids glared at me and started to whisper with his buddies. Then they all laughed at the fact that I was sitting next to a five year old girl with her Barbie backpack. It made me wish for Spot's no-moral spirit so that I could soak the kids. I stalked off the bus when my stop came, still wishing to punch someone or something. (Preferably one of those little freaks that humans call fourth graders…)

"Michael is that you?" Mom's cheerful voice called through the house.

"Yeah," I replied grumpily, slamming the door behind me.

"How was your day?" she asked, poking her head out of the kitchen.

"Fine," I snapped, storming up the stairs with my anger building. I wasn't being fair but I didn't care. I hadn't been this angry in a long time.

I dropped my heavy backpack on the floor noisily and then crawled into bed. The monitor dug into my hip and I wanted to scream. I was in a temper where every little detail just makes you want to through a tantrum. I unplugged the monitor and set it on my dresser, deciding not to chuck it into the next yard. Then I curled up and pulled the covers over me.

--

Knock, knock.

"Honey, can I come in?" Mom gently opened the door and sat on my bed. I didn't move. I had been sleeping for the past few hours and I didn't want to leave my refuge. I didn't want to face the world.

Mom rubbed my shoulder. "Is anything wrong?"

"I just had a bad day, s'all." I said quietly, sniffling a little. Had I been crying? Maybe I had; I just hadn't noticed it. Who cared anyway?

"Dinner will be ready soon; would you like to come down?" Mom's voice was soft. "Dad will be home soon."

I still didn't answer. I didn't have the strength. But it was times like these where my mom knew exactly how to respond.

She kissed my head. "Come down when you like."

I think she knew that I was going through something and didn't prod me. For that, I was grateful. When she left, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I had to buck up and I knew it. But, flopping back onto my side, I knew that I sure as heck didn't want to. I burrowed my nose into my pillow. I would have to go down sooner or later.

After five more minutes, I finally rose and sat on the edge of my bed. I had to get on with life. Sighing, I put my heart monitor back on and started downstairs. The thought entered my mind again; thank God it was Friday.

---

"Hey honey." Mom smiled at me as I came to the table. She and Dad were both sitting down already.

"We started without you, is that okay?" Dad asked.

I nodded. "Uh huh." I truly didn't care. I felt kinda numb.

Mom and Dad exchanged looks.

"Do you want to talk about your day?" Dad asked.

I shook my head. "Not really."

My parents looked at each other again.

"You didn't have any heart things did you?" Mom asked, almost cautiously.

I sighed. "Yeah, both of them were ten minutes."

"Did it hurt?" Mom looked worried.

I shook my head. "Nah, just irritating." Mom still looked worried and I sighed again. "No worries Mom, I'm fine."

"He'll be fine." Dad patted my mom's hand and then looked at me. "You'll have to send those in tonight then, you realize that right?"

I had forgotten. "I guess so," I said grudgingly.

"Why don't you just do it now and get it over with?" Dad suggested.

"How do you even do it?" I wanted to know.

"They'll probably tell you." Dad assured. "Just call the number and tell them your name and what you need to do."

I let out a small groan and went to get the phone. (Along with the monitor had come with extra patches and instructions. Since the monitor could only hold three recordings at a time, I would have to send in the recordings by phone.)

"I think I'll go to my room for this," I told my parents. I was embarrassed to do it in front of my parents, but I think they understood that because both nodded and let me be.

I ran upstairs and sat on my bed, glancing outside for a moment. From my room, I could see right to Snitch's house. On some nights, we would open our windows and talk from our rooms. (It was really great that summer where he was grounded for two weeks.)

I shook off the memory and quickly punched in the phone number. (The phone number for the place was on the back of the monitor.) A buzzing noise filled the earpiece and then the ringing started.

Soon someone picked up. "Hello?" It was feminine and had a German accent tinge to it.

"Um, hi," I stuttered, almost forgetting what to say. "My name is Ite-Michael Tesoro and I'm calling to send in a heart recording to the Manhattan Children's Hospital."

"Alvright. How do you svell vat?" she asked.

"Uh, T-E-S-O-R-O," I spelled. My grip was getting sweaty on the phone.

"Birthday?" The girl's tone was brisk.

I stared at the phone for a moment before answering "March 9th."

"Vat ver you doing ven you recorded vis?"

_They just don't stop do they? _"Um, I was just standing still," I answered truthfully.

"Alvright then." It was silent for a few seconds before she came back. "Vone moment, please hold," the woman said and then the sound of piano playing filled the earpiece.

"Um, hello?" I asked, wondering about the random music playing in the background._ Must be that thing about 'holding'_, I thought.

The music played for about seven minutes and I thought for a moment that they would never get back to me. Then the woman clicked back on and said, "Michael Tesoro?"

"Uh, that's me," I said quickly.

"Alvright, listen carefully," she explained (though I had to ask her to repeat some things, because her thick accent was making things hard to understand. "Ven I tell you to, place the monitor next to the phone and press the button next to the recording vone."

I found the button. "Okay, then what?"

"That vill send it in. You should not move it until it is finished."

"Um, okay." I swallowed, suddenly nervous.

"Vait," the woman said. "Do you have a recording of just your regular heartbeat?"

"No," I became worried. Was that bad?

"Please record a regular heartbeat now," she said, "and I vill come back to you in a few minutes." Then the piano music came back on. I scowled and pressed the recording button, hearing the double beeps and then laying down beside the phone.

"Are you done?" The woman was back on three minutes later.

"Yes," I answered, rolling my eyes. I was sorry to be sassy, but I had been on the phone for fifteen minutes already and I was sick of it.

"Send in the recordings now," the woman said.

"Um, okay."

I set down the phone, pressed the monitor next to the mouthpiece and then pushed the other button. A loud, high pitched wailing sound shot out of the monitor, similar to when I had hit the button before. I then realized that the wailing with the random beeps inside it was the monitor letting out the recordings. I sighed and let the monitor do its thing, knowing that by last time I had let out the recording, it would only take a minute or two.

Too bad I forgot that instead of one recording, I had three. It took about five minutes to release both, which did nothing to help my mood.

When it was finally done, my ears kept ringing; the wail had been very loud. I put the phone back to my ear. "Is it done?" I asked, hesitating a bit.

"Yes," the girl answered. "You may hang up now."

"Okay, thanks," I said, hanging up the phone before crashing onto my pillow and groaning. Was this what was going to happen every time? I hoped not, though it would probably take as long each time. Hopefully I wouldn't have the German girl again though. Yikes!


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: You know the drill..._

**Author's Note: ~peeks out from behind a chair~ Uh hi. ~waves sheepishly~ Well, I definitely feel like a hypocrite; when I first came on this website and saw all the stories that were only updated once a month, I told myself that I would NEVER do such a thing (if I ever got an account.) Looks like I just did. Today is the month long anniversary of not updating for this fic. Heh. Don't worry about slapping me, I already did it to myself. But if you want to slap me too...well, ya can't, CUZ WE'RE ON THE INTERNET!!! MWAHAHA!!!**

**~cough~ Ahem... ~smile~ Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**

**Chapter Eleven  
**

I tried to go to bed after talking on the phone with the German girl; I had been awfully tired lately and just wanted to sleep, but something that Snitch always said kept popping up in my mind: 'can't' is the same as saying 'won't'. It seemed like a stupid phrase sometimes, but the more I thought of it, the more it made sense. It bugged me so much that, tired as I was, I couldn't fall asleep. It took several hours for it to happen.

Being too worried about the heart monitor, I think I had forgotten how great the weekends were. So when I woke up on Saturday, I just sank into my pillows and sighed in comfort. Of course, this was before I remembered that all my friends currently hated me and I now had a heart monitor.

Spiffy.

My happy-Saturday-morning mood gone, I kicked off my covers and headed towards the shower. I didn't really want to get up, but I knew that if I didn't get in soon, my mom would hog all the hot water.

The warm water soothed my mood a little bit until I got out of the shower and discovered that one of my heart monitor patches (the one beside my left rib) was peeling off. That wasn't what bugged me - the nurse had told me that would happen - what really bugged me was the circular scar in my skin where the patch formerly was.

I groaned and touched the aching area. It felt waxy, looked a little red and was beginning to feel a bit sore. I shrugged it off, slapped another patch over the spot and then – after replacing the one under my collarbone – I plugged in the monitor and headed downstairs.

After eating a bagel slathered with cream cheese, I decided to go outside and kick the soccer ball around. I wasn't that good at it, but just playing around outside brightened my mood a little. (So my mom was right when she said that fresh air is good for you.)

I had been hanging out in the yard for only about ten minutes before someone coughed behind me. I whirled around, soccer ball ready to throw as if someone was going to attack me.

It was Snitch.

I lowered the ball from my defense position and tried to smile. "Guess I thought you were an intruder."

No smile from Snitch.

He just stood there, arms folded, looking like he wanted to axe someone - probably me. I realized then that this was such a big problem that just laughing things off wouldn't work. Snitch deserved more than a shrug and a laugh to keep things together this time.

I sighed. "Look, I'm…" I fought for the words to come out. My pride and ego was screaming at me, but I tried to swallow it down and repair things before they got too serious. "I'm sorry."

Snitch's lips parted a little. He looked surprised, but I took no notice. I knew if I did, I'd lose my nerve.

"I'm sorry that I acted like such a jerk," I apologized. "I should've told you about the heart monitor right away. You deserved to know."

"Yeah, I did." Snitch nodded, eyebrows still furrowed.

A flash of irritation hit me. "I said I was sorry." I didn't want another argument.

"I know." Snitch didn't seem to care. He seemed content to stare at me with utter contempt in his eyes, without any attempt to repair the ugly thing that had come between us.

"I was trying to apologize," I spat out, frowning now.

Snitch smirked. "I know you were."

He walked towards me and I almost took a step back. There was something fierce burning in his eyes, something I hadn't really seen before. He just stood there for a moment, gazing straight into my eyes. I tried not to look away or flinch. At first I thought he was going to slug me; he just stood there, staring at me.

Then, a small smile came across his face as I watched all the anger drain out of his eyes. And instead of punching my lights out, he pulled me into a warm embrace.

"I'm sorry too," he whispered. His breath tickled my neck. I then hugged him back, knowing that he had forgiven me.

--

After apologizing to Snitch, I definitely felt a whole lot better. I didn't even have a heart issue all weekend - but then Monday rolled around and I felt butterflies flying around in my stomach; I still had to mend it all up with the rest of the boys.

I had a feeling that Snitch knew that I was kind of nervous, because right before we split up in school he turned around and gave me a smile. I tried to smile back.

"Hey," he bumped his shoulder with mine. "Don't worry so much, 'kay?"

This time I really did smile. Snitch could always make me smile.

Then we parted ways and rushed to class. I was just hoping that the guys weren't too mad to hear me out.

--

Well, the reaction from the other fellas was a bit different than I had expected. I had expected that either: a) they would hate my guts or b) they forgot all about it or didn't really care so much. Both my expectations were wrong. They didn't hate me - boys don't really hold grudges over petty things, like girls do - but they weren't exactly warm and welcoming.

It wasn't like I was getting the evil eye or anything, but they were treating me more like an acquaintance, rather than a good friend. A nod here, a glance there; nothing special. I was silent in all my classes, regardless of having a so-called "friend" in the class with me or not.

I wanted to do something about the coldness, but I've always been a shy person when I'm on my own and I couldn't find the right words to come out. It was awkward all morning. I was hoping that one of my closer friends – like Bumlets, Specs, or Jake - would get the ball rolling and I could go from there.

Surprisingly though, it wasn't one of my good friends who started it; it was Crutchy.

Don't get me wrong, Crutchy's a nice guy and all, but we're not exactly tight. Oh, we talk at group gatherings and stuff, but Crutchy's not on my first-ten-guys-to-call-for-help list. But I have to hand it to Crutchy, he really helped me that day.

We have study hall together, which is right before lunch. (I actually was planning to skip eating lunch with the boys because Snitch had to have a different lunch period that day due to a test. Yeah, I know - bawk, bawk!) Crutchy just waltzed up to my desk and sat down next to me, leaning his crutch against the table. (Really the only reason we call him Crutchy is because he's constantly breaking bones and has been on crutches four times now. This time he only sprained his ankle, so it's not that serious, but still.)

"So how's it goin' Itey?" he asked, a big dopey grin on his face.

"Uh, alright, thanks," I replied, looking down. I couldn't believe I was being so wimpy, especially with Crutchy, but I couldn't help it. For some reason that I couldn't explain, I just was scared of what all the boys were thinking.

Crutchy looked a little uncomfortable at my response. "So uh, we were all wonderin', um…"

I looked at him. He gave me another smile, looking nervous.

"It's about that thing on Friday," he said awkwardly.

I groaned. "Don't tell me; all of you guys hate me."

"Don't think that Itey!" Crutchy exclaimed. "We're just a little confused, that's all."

I gave him an incredulous look. "You don't hate me?"

Crutchy looked horrified. "Why would we? You're our pal."

"But I did kinda blow up at you guys," I admitted.

Crutchy shrugged. "Who cares? We all fight sometimes."

"I just feel bad about it," I told him. "I don't like it when people are mad at me."

Crutchy looked surprised. "We're not mad at you."

I was dumbfounded. "Really?

Crutchy smiled. "Really. We just want to know what's going on. Besides," he winked. "It's not everyday that one of your friends gets a heart monitor. We just want to know why. You're our friend and we still care."

I smiled a little bit. "Thanks Crutchy; that meant a lot."

Crutchy beamed. "Anytime Itey. But do you mind telling me about why you're wearing a heart monitor? We're all kinda confused."

I sighed. "I'm not really sure myself. I just have something going on with my heart where it keeps speeding up a lot and I can hear it in my head." I caught sight of Crutchy's face. "It's little hard to explain."

"I'll say." Crutchy grinned. "But I can pass it around the guys and you can just tell us what you know, alright?"

I nodded. "Okay."

Crutchy pulled out his crutch from under the table.

"Crutchy?" I said quickly as he was about to hobble away.

"Yeah?" he turned around and looked at me expectantly.

I tried to smile and said softly, "Thanks."

Crutchy just smiled and hobbled away.

I rested my chin on my hands. I kept thinking that it might get better now. Not just between me and the boys, but with the heart monitor in general.

But, I ended up being wrong.

Dead wrong.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: Just one thing before I go, there's another character week! Jack Week (hosted by yours truly) begins on June 16th- 23rd. Some of you are already signed up, but I just wanted to throw that out there. A full explanation of character weeks is found on Laelyn24's forums. I have a link to the thread on my profile; go check it out! And thanks again Laelyn for doing that! :)**

**Have a great day everyone!**

**-Adren  
**


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: You know the drill..._

**Author's Note: I think Laelyn and I just set a record for fastest-beta-ing-job-done-EVER! This chapter was written this morning, sent to Laelyn in the afternoon, and the last 45 minutes were spent beta-ing. Bowchikawowow! :D Enjoy folks! This one is gonna give ya'll some angsty goodness and the EXPLANATION of what has been happening to Itey this whole fic. This is the moment ya'll have been waiting for so GO AHEAD AND READ!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

* * *

**

**Chapter Twelve**

"So you're wearing the heart monitor to see what's actually going on?" Dutchy asked, his eyes wide.

I nodded. "Yeah, for about a month."

I had just spent the last fifteen minutes of lunch telling all my friends exactly what had happened at the doctor's clinic and what had happened since then.

"Wow." Swifty seemed impressed.

"So, in a month you'll go back to the doc's and figure out what is goin' on." Specs nodded. "Sounds logical."

"Logical?" Snoddy nearly choked. "Yeah, real logical. Go to the doctor to see what's wrong! GASP!"

We all gave Snoddy a weird look, but once Pie and Dutchy started giggling, we ended up dissolving into laughter (except Specs, who was just looked insulted). I had a feeling he still found it funny though and I had to laugh, in spite of myself.

I then noticed Jake wasn't laughing as hard as he usually would at a joke. In fact, he looked a bit concerned.

Snitch noticed too. "What's wrong Jake?" he asked, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Jeeze man, you look more depressed than Skittery usually does," Bumlets joked and that got another laugh. But Jake still had a crease in his forehead and was chewing on his lip like he always does when he gets nervous.

"Dude, seriously, what's up?" Snoddy asked after the laughter had died down.

Jake started a little and then stopped. "Oh nothing," he said, losing the weird look on his face and giving us a smile. But I noticed later that when he looked at me, he seemed troubled again.

So when he went up to dump his tray, I went with him. "Jake, are you okay?" I asked in a low voice.

"Huh?" Jake looked at me. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Ya sure?" I stopped and looked at him.

Jake looked sad. "Well, I'm just worried about you Itey," he confessed.

That got me confused. "What do you mean?"

"Just about your heart thing and all," Jake shrugged. "I just don't want it to be something bad, whatever it is."

I suddenly remembered that Jake's dad was a doctor. "Do you know something that I don't know?" I asked quietly.

Jake gave me a worried look. "Well, ya know how my dad's a surgeon?" he asked, sounding awkward.

"Yes," I nodded.

"Well, he does cardiology stuff -- you know, things with the heart?" Jake put his tray away and began rubbing his hands together.

"Jake, what is it?" I was beginning to get impatient. The look on Jake's face was starting to worry me.

"I'm just nervous that you have something…wrong with your heart," he said. "Like a disorder or…I don't know." He gave me a guilty look.

My mouth went dry. "A heart disorder?" I croaked.

Jake gave me a helpless look. "I didn't want to worry you," he said. "That's why I didn't say anything at first. I mean, chances are it isn't a heart disorder and if it was-" He looked like he was going to say more but then Swifty came up behind us.

"A heart disorder? Puh-leaze." Swifty rolled his eyes and punched Jake gently. "Itey's the last person to get one of those. They can kill you anyway, right?"

Way to go Swifty. That'll make me feel a lot better. It was one of the only times in my life where I really wanted to punch him.

Jake saw the worry in my eyes and stepped between us. "I'm sure it's nothing," he soothed. "Don't worry about it Itey."

"Yeah Itey," Swifty slung an arm around me. "Don't worry."

I shrugged his arm off. "I'm not worried."

But I was lying.

---

Days came and went, but I never forgot what Jake and Swifty said. A heart disorder? And one that could kill me? Fear crept into my heart and refused to leave.

I never told my parents though; they wouldn't understand. Besides, they were just as worried as I was, if not more. Mom was more concerned about where I was going when I went out and always asked if I was okay. Dad seemed to be home more often and would spend a lot more time talking to me than usual. I didn't really mind the latter, but it was disconcerting when Mom was always worried about me, and I hated being reminded of the heart monitor every second that I was with my family. But eventually, March ended and April began.

We sent the heart monitor in a package back to the hospital and the people on the phone reassured us that we would get the test results when we went back to the clinic, which would be in a week. It was a relief to not have to clip on the monitor every day and to not have to worry about it getting wet. It was also nice not having to call the clinic every few days to report in more heart recording. Not that I ever had a person as weird as the German girl the first night, but it was still a pain.

Thankfully, my friends were pretty cool with the whole situation. Snitch or Bumlets would ask once in a while about how the monitor was and everything, but I think for most of them, the monitor was something that had been there temporarily and wasn't anything to get hyped up about. And none of them had actually been with me while I was having a particularly bad heart thing, save the gym incident, so they weren't reminded of it that often. I never spoke to anyone, especially Jake on the subject either.

So basically, life was okay up till that day.

That day being Tuesday, April 12th.

I have never forgotten that day.

It was the day that my parents and I went to the heart clinic to find out the results from my heart monitor. And it changed my life forever.

It started out as a normal type of day at first. The usual school stuff – and for once I hadn't been worried about an appointment after school – and then going home on the bus with Snitch.

"See ya tomorrow!" I cried as we parted ways.

"Later." Snitch was a little monotone since he had already pulled out his cell phone to start texting. I rolled my eyes and went inside my house.

"Michael, we're going to be late!" my mom fussed as she ran up to me.

I was confused. "Mom, the appointment isn't till 4:30."

"It was changed earlier today while you were at school." Mom scurried to the stairs. "Dennis we're going to be late!" she hollered up to my dad.

He came trotting down the steps, straightening his tie. "Sorry," he apologized, and my mom huffed. I stifled a smile. One thing about my parents that I gotta love; my mom is Ms. Punctual and Dad is forever being late to things. It was pretty funny when they clashed on the subject.

"Michael, grab your stuff, we need to leave!"

Trying not to laugh, I picked up my backpack and hustled out the door, Mom barking at Dad and me the whole way.

--

It took us twenty five minutes to get to the clinic. I listened to my iPod the whole time, pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. I was really calm actually. I had figured that nothing could be too bad since nothing had been urgently mailed or phoned to us.

Oh, the irony of life.

After waiting ten minutes in the reception room, we were showed to a small room; Dr. Dekko came in soon afterwards.

"Hello all," she said and shook hands with my parents. She looked as grave as ever, but not worried so I took that as a good sign.

We sat down and I felt a twinge of unease as Dr. Dekko cleared her throat. "We have the results from Michael's heart monitor."

My parents leaned forward simultaneously. "And?"

Mom's eyes were huge.

Dr. Dekko looked at my parents for a long moment. "This'll sound worse than it is, so don't worry too much," she said finally. "Michael—" she glanced at me before she spoke and then turned to my parents, "has a type of tachycardia."

My parents looked shocked, but I just felt confused. Tachycardia? What in the world was that?

"Um, what is it?" I asked timidly.

Dr. Dekko turned her gaze from my parents to me. "It's a type of heart disorder," she said simply. Then she turned back to my parents and said something else, but I didn't hear her.

A heart disorder? Me? So Jake was right…

"It's actually not as bad as it sounds," Dr. Dekko was saying. "Its not life-threatening and can't harm your heart. It's just an annoyance that could grow as you get older."

"How so?" Dad asked, echoing my own thoughts.

"It'd get harder and harder to recover from each attack," the doctor explained. "Now, you just feel a little fatigued afterwards, correct?" She turned to me and I nodded. "Instead of just going about your day as usual, you'd feel more and more tired after each attack," she explained looking at my parents again. "When you're much older, say sixty, it might tire you out for an entire day."

For the second time that day, my jaw dropped.

"But as I said before," Dr. Dekko continued. "It's not terminal."

It was silent in the room as my parents and I digested this piece of information.

Dr. Dekko pulled a card out from her coat. "I'm going to recommend you to a colleague of mine, Dr. McIntyre. She is a cardiologist and will be able to give you more information on the subject and possible solutions to the problem." She almost smiled. "This is not my area of expertise."

Mom silently accepted the card.

"Any other questions?" Dr. Dekko asked.

I had a thousand, but I didn't dare ask. I had a feeling my parents were the same way.

"We'll be in touch," Dad finally managed to get out and stood up to shake Dr. Dekko's hand.

Mom did the same. "Thank you," she said. She almost looked dazed.

Dr. Dekko could probably sense the uncertainty as she showed us out and said, "Again, Dr. McIntyre will be able to help you with the specifics. I'll let her in know in advance that you're coming."

"Thank you again." Dad said stiffly. Mom didn't say anything. We all left the reception room silent and remained that way until we got home.

* * *

**A/N: Two more character weeks! Ding ding ding! :D Bumlets Week is hosted by .Rochelle-Has-A-Dream. and is June 28th-July 4th. The second is Les Week, hosted by MushSpotgoil, on July 5th-11th. You know the drill! :)**

**Have a FABULOUS DAY!!! (can you tell I'm hyper? ;D)**

**-Adren**

**P.S. Oh yeah. Mind sending me a review on your reaction to Itey's heart disorder and general feedback? If you do, I'll give you a virtual cookie! :)  
**


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: _I'm trying to think of something clever and witty to say that'll make you go, "Oh, ha ha. That was a good disclaimer". Unfortunately, I can't think of anything. So, "I don't own Newsies" will have to suffice. (Hey! It's the thought that counts right?)**  
**

**A/N: **I'm BAAACK!!!! ;D Okay, so this chapter really wasn't going to exist, but my fingers said otherwise. And I wrote this all in two or so hours. _And_ I listened to Quad City Stomp on YouTube over a dozen times while writing this section. (Seriously, listen to that piece, it's by Michael Sweeney and very cool.) :) Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**

**Chapter Thirteen**

My parents and I were quiet as we walked into the house.

"Anyone want lemonade?" Mom asked resignedly.

Neither Dad nor I answered.

Mom poured herself a glass, but didn't drink it. She just held it in her hands as she sat beside Dad and me on the couch.

"We'll have to set up an appointment with Dr. MacIntyre soon," Dad said expressionlessly.

Mom nodded. "Yeah."

I couldn't take it anymore. There was a suffocating silence in between every attempt to start a conversation. My mind was reeling and I couldn't stay in the room much longer without wanting to scream.

I grabbed my cell phone off the table.

"I'm going for a bike ride," I muttered.

"Be careful," Mom cautioned.

That did it.

I whirled around. "What do you mean 'be careful'?" I shouted.

Mom jumped and her lemonade sloshed around, some getting on the carpet. No one seemed to notice.

"We just found out you have a heart disorder," Dad said patronizingly (or so it seemed). "We're just a little worried about you."

I rolled my eyes. "The doctor said it couldn't kill me; why do you have to make such a big deal out of it?"

"Check your attitude, Michael," Dad said, raising his voice.

"Or what?" I snapped.

"Honey, we're just worried because we love you," Mom said, her eyes beginning to water.

"GAH!" I wanted to rip my hair out. "I KNOW you love me! But stop suffocating me!" My face was getting red. "I KNOW I have a heart disorder but I ALSO know that it can't kill me. If you really loved me, you'd give me some space!" I scowled. "I'm going biking now, so do you want me to wear a helmet?" I asked in a sticky sweet voice.

Okay, so that was too mouthy on my part.

Mom's eyes flashed. "Don't give us your sass young man."

"Well SORR-EY!" I hollered. My face was hot.

"Is it now a crime to want what is best for your son?" Dad shouted.

"It is when you show it by worrying about him 24/7!" It was a dumb answer, but I didn't care. I flung open the door and ran to my bike. Hopping on and racing away, I didn't even look back. I thought I could hear Mom crying and I couldn't bear that. I was close to tears myself.

I pedaled as fast as I could, trying to get away. I biked my usual route (which is almost three miles) that goes to a cheap gas station. I considered stopping there, but I was still too frustrated to turn around and face my parents. So I kept going.

Soon I reached a small lake where a few shops and restaurants were clustered around a dock of sailboats. I stopped there, seeing my favorite malt shop. I knew I had a five dollar bill in my jean pocket.

I parked and locked my bike and then felt my face for tearstains. I didn't want to look like some ragtag kid who just had a total spaz-out (despite the fact that I just had). Even though I probably wouldn't know anyone there, I didn't want to look weird.

I did look normal. I never actually thought I would know someone there. Almost as soon as I walked in though, my name was called.

"Yo, Itey!"

I froze and then slowly turned around to where the booths were. Spot Conlon was sitting there, along with a bunch of other guys that I didn't recognize. I assumed they were his Brooklyn pals. (Spot lives in Brooklyn, but he goes to a Manhattan school. I have no idea why, but Spot never mentions it and with the way he is, if he doesn't care, then you don't either. I personally suspect it has something to do with his parents, who tend to be on the snobby side. Maybe they can't live in Manhattan, but they sure can act like it. Thankfully though, it hasn't carried over to their son.)

I feigned a smile. "Hey Spot."

He sat up and beckoned me over. I slowly came towards him. The Brooklyn boys made me nervous and I didn't want them to catch a glimpse that I might've been crying.

"Have a chair Tesoro." Spot pulled one over and I sat in it, every muscle tense.

Spot smirked. "So, how are things?"

"Fine," I lied between my teeth. I couldn't understand why Spot was talking to me. The only Manhattan guys that Spot was really close to were Racetrack and Jack.

Spot locked gazes with me and I got a strong feeling that he knew something was up.

"Come with me to get another malt Itey," he said nonchalantly and got up. I followed him, unable to resist casting a quick glance over my shoulder at the Brooklyn boys. None of them were paying me any mind. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Want something?" Spot asked, sliding some money across the counter. I dug out my five dollar bill even though I wasn't that hungry and handed it to the woman behind the counter.

"Small coffee malt, please," I said automatically. The woman busied herself for a moment and then handed us our drinks.

Spot watched me carefully as I took my change and malt with shaky hands.

"Come here Itey," he said finally and led me over to a table in the emptiest part of the restaurant. I sat down and attempted to sip my malt. I was no good at acting; maybe Bumlets thought I was, but I most certainly was not.

"Seriously Itey, what's up?" Spot asked, looking straight into my eyes.

His gazed bored into me. I looked away trying to sound nonchalant. "Nothing in particular."

"You're lying," Spot said bluntly.

I looked up sharply. "Why would you care?" I couldn't believe myself. Here I was, sitting in a malt shop, diagnosed with a heart disorder, and getting mouthy with Spot Conlon.

Unbelievable. Maybe it wasn't just a heart disorder; I think it affected my brain as well.

Spot merely raised an eyebrow and kept his hard blue eyes trained on me. I couldn't take it. (Or as Snitch would say, I _didn't_ want to take it.) I had already channeled all my energy into fighting with my parents and biking the four miles to the shop. I was drained.

"Look Spot, it's nothing." I said wearily.

"Uh huh, sure." Spot leaned back on his chair and crossed his hands behind his head. Now he was the nonchalant one. "We can sit here till closing time or you can just tell me now."

I suddenly realized why Spot was the great leader he was. He didn't take no for an answer.

I groaned as he smirked. I still didn't understand why he cared about me like this. It was just mind-boggling.

A pretty waitress came up to us. "Do ya'll need anything?" she asked with an southern accent. Boy was she a looker. By the way she looked at Spot, I figured that she thought the same about him.

But Spot, being the typical guy he was, barely glanced at her.

"We're fine," he said, smirking still at me.

The waitress looked a bit put out but still left. I followed her with my eyes. She was perfectly gorgeous, and Spot simply blew her off, just like that. Incredible. No girl would ever look at me like that and girls fell over each other for a glance from Spot Conlon. Life just wasn't fair sometimes.

"Don't change the subject." Spot's voice was completely deadpan.

I looked at him, surprised. "What do you mean?" I hadn't said anything.

Spot scowled. "I mean, stop drooling over the waitress and answer my question."

"Or what?" I asked, being pretty stupid for doing so. It was pretty obvious what Spot would do.

"Or I'll soak ya." He was serious, but at that point in my life, I didn't care a lot. Not like I was one of those boys who considered it to be an honor to be soaked by Spot Conlon, but I was just so fed up with life in general that I just didn't care what was happening to me.

I sighed. "I thought we were going to wait until closing time and we had to leave."

Spot's lips curved into a smile. "We were, but I'd rather just soak ya now instead of then."

I laughed.

I actually laughed.

In spite of everything, I had to just chuckle. I shook my head. "Sonofagun."

Spot smirked. "Dang straight."

I smiled then. "Fine then, you win."

Spot's expression didn't change and he stated quite matter of factly, "I always do."

I chuckled again. "Alright then." Spot waited for me to clear my throat. Then I told him everything. Throughout my whole explanation, his expression didn't change. When I was finished, I leaned back and waited for him to speak.

"Ya done?" He didn't exactly look bored or unimpressed, but his expression was just unreadable.

I nodded. "Yup."

Spot stood up and I stood up with him. We looked at each other eye to eye and for once, I didn't shy away from his gaze.

He put a hand on my shoulder. "Here's my words of wisdom then for ya then." He searched for the right words to say. "I think this has already been hard for you, and I'm not gonna say it's going to get easier, it's probably just going to get harder." Here he squeezed my shoulder. "But I think you're strong Itey, and you'll be able to make it. It's just another part of carrying the banner." Spot almost looked sad for a moment. "We all have times like this, where life's just really hard and you can't do anything about it. None of us are probably ever going to go through something like you are, but each experience is unique. I'll bet none of us will ever lose our left eye like Blink did either. So you just have to pull through it, because no matter how bad things are or seem, they're not going to last forever." He squeezed my shoulder again. "Remember that Itey."

We stood there for another minute after Spot's speech and I let my mind take it in. Spot was right in every way and I now knew what I had to do.

I smiled. "Thanks Spot."

Spot smirked and clapped me on the shoulder. "Yeah, no prob. Besides," he smirked. "you're not too bad a guy…for a piano player."

I rolled my eyes and he grinned. There was nothing else to say and so we spit-shook. Then I walked out of the malt shop, unchained my bike, and rode home, feeling a whole lot better.

* * *

**A/N: **Review please?

CTB!

-AdrenR16

P.S. Just an FYI, I changed the date in the last chapter to Tuesday, April 12th instead of March 28th.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:**_** I don't own Newsies. Darn you Disney for not sharing!**_**  
**

**A/N: _Wow, Jack Week was fun! Thank you for all who entered; it was a blast! And congratulations to Smiley94 for winning this challenge with her story, "The Climb". It's on my faves, go check it out! :) R&R please!

* * *

_**

**Chapter Fourteen**

I opened the door quietly and slipped in, locking the door behind me. Just because I had gotten out my feelings with Spot didn't mean that I wasn't a teeny bit afraid of apologizing to my parents. Hey, doesn't everyone get a little nervous? I could feel the nerves in the pit of my stomach.

I peeked around the corner.

Both of my parents were sitting at the dining room table going over paperwork. They both stopped talking simultaneously and looked at me.

I cleared my throat and clasped my hands together tightly.

"I'm sorry for blowing up." I decided to dive right into the apology right away. If I didn't, I would've lost my nerve -- I wasn't sure how my parents were going to react. "I was just irritated about you guys fussing over me all the time."

Mom rose and came over to put her arms around me. "It's alright honey, we're sorry too."

Usually, I don't like having my mom hug me, but I made an exception in this case -- even Dad came over and did the same thing. But eventually I wriggled away. I don't they minded though because we just headed over to the dinner table to eat. For the first time since three o'clock that afternoon, I began to relax.

--

At precisely 2:23 in the morning -- the morning after my little episode about finding out I had a heart disorder -- nerves decided to hit me again. It was at 2:27 that I figured out the reason for waking up that early -- I was nervous. Why? I realized I had to inform Snitch and the others about this little fiasco.

_It was easy with Spot,_ one side of my brain argued.

_Slightly different situation since he was threatening me,_ I defended.

Ya know, I really hated having voices in my head -- I still do. I just couldn't get over the whole idea that I, Michael "Itey" Tesoro, had a heart disorder. Unbelievable.

_You don't have to tell them_, a little voice inside of me suggested.

_Huh?_

_You don't have to tell Snitch and others about this._

_Oh sure, (_now I was being sarcastic with myself, great) _then what am I going to say when they ask me?_

_You think they'll actually ask you?_

That idea made me halt my little thought train. Would the guys actually ask me? I had no idea. It was entirely plausible that they'd forget. I mean, the guys didn't exactly have a great record when remembering stuff (cough**MY**cough**BIRTHDAY**cough). Still, I didn't like not telling them something when I promised that I would.

_You didn't promise them._ That naggy little voice was back. _Heck, they barely remember now! Did Snitch even know about today's appointment?_

If I had been talking aloud, I would've been mumbling by now. _No._

_Then what's the big deal? They don't remember or care about this; why bother them with your pathetic little sob story?_

_I would feel guilty not telling them_, I defended, though I wasn't really sure if that was true or not. My self-esteem was taking a major nose dive and that was my last defense.

_Liar._

I punched my pillow. _Fine, I won't tell them! Happy?_

No answer.

I groaned and rolled over, trying to get to sleep--but that didn't work even after two more hours of insomnia-induced sparring with my mental self. Eventually, I did fall asleep. Not because of my nerves calmed down or anything, no. I assume it was from exhaustion. Who would've thought that my mental self was so challenging?

_I won't tell them._

--

"Hey Itey!" Snitch said, coming up to me and clapping me on the back while we waited at the bus stop. "How's it going?"

I shrugged. "Pretty good."

_Liar._

_Hey, it was _your_ idea not to tell him!_

Stupid mind.

"That's good." Snitch hitched his thumbs on his backpack straps and began to talk about some kind of new video game that he and Bumlets had tried out at the arcade yesterday.

I let out a mental sigh. He hadn't noticed.

"Itey are you listening?"

I jumped. "Uh, yeah." I was becoming quite the little liar.

Snitch smirked. "Uh huh, sure. What did I just say then?"

I sifted through my mental files, trying to think of the most logical thing. "Uh, you and Bumlets…"—_What had he been saying?_--"decided to make a cake?" I said sheepishly and flashing a cheesy smile.

Snitch just gave me a weird look. "We went to the arcade," he said as if he was talking to a three year old. "Hey, how come you didn't answer your phone yesterday?"

"Say wha-?"

What was he saying now?

"We wanted you to come with us, but you didn't answer your phone." Snitch was still looking at me funny.

"Oh, I had it--uh--off." Why was I always lying now?

"Really?" Snitch looked incredulous. "I thought you always had it on."

"I'm trying to cut my phone time in half." I made up another lie on the spot.

Snitch had the question mark look on his face. "Cut your phone time in half?"

"Uh yeah." I faked a smile. "My parents are getting irritated that I'm always on it now."

Snitch rolled his eyes. "Brother, now that's a lie if I've ever heard one."

I bit my lip. How did he know?

The bus pulled up and we climbed to our seats where Snitch then slung his arm around me.

"If you were on your phone more, you'd be texting me back." Snitch was a texting fiend.

"Well, I'm texting someone else," I said defensively.

Snitch laughed. "Like who?"

"Like my girlfriend!" I snapped and then my jaw dropped. Did that come out of me?

Snitch looked equally surprised. "You have a girlfriend?"

I tried to smile and look casual. "Uh yeah."

Now Snitch just looked skeptical. "What's her name?"

My mind blanked. Every name that came into my head was a name that Snitch would know. "She's new here…uh, her name's Veronica…uh, Perkins."

Snitch looked like he was going to keel over any second. "Seriously?" he whispered.

"Well, uh…" I couldn't take it anymore and sighed. "No, I don't have a girlfriend."

"You don't?"

I swear, Snitch looked like his eyeballs were rolling around in his head, like in cartoons.

I shook my head. "No."

Snitch frowned, but didn't say anything since the bus had stopped and we had to get off.

"Okay Itey, what's going on?" he asked, once we stepped on the curb. We had fifteen minutes until school started. "Why are you lying all the time now?"

I shrugged. "I don't know," I said helplessly. I stopped myself. "Well, that's another lie."

Snitch looked like he wanted to bang his head against the wall. "For Pete's sake Itey, tell the truth for once!"

I looked up to the heavens. Why me?

"I'm going to tell you," I said finally. "Just...don't freak out or anything."

Snitch rolled his eyes. "It's not like we're girls or anything Itey."

I ignored his last comment; you could tell that he had a younger sister. Snitch was a bit of an anti-girl freak. I think that's why Jack creeps him out sometimes. "I had a doctor's appointment yesterday to find out the heart monitor results, okay?"

Snitch nodded. "Okay, sure..."

"Here it is then." I took a deep breath. "I've been diagnosed with a heart disorder."

I bit my lip and looked at his face to see his reaction.

Snitch looked utterly dumbfounded. Then came the explosion. "WHAT THE--"

A car behind us honked.

"--DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE A HEART DISORDER?!!!!!!!"

I took an involuntary step backwards. Snitch's face was bright red and it didn't look like he was going to calm down anytime soon. I had never seen him this furious since--scratch that, I had never seen him this mad--Snitch was usually a pretty easy going guy.

"Well you see--" I tried to explain, but Snitch wouldn't have it.

"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU, ITEY TESORO, HAVE SOME KIND OF HEART DISORDER AND YOU JUST FOUND OUT _YESTERDAY_?!!!"

I gave a guilty nod.

"AND YOU DIDN'T BOTHER TO TELL ME--YOUR BEST FRIEND?!!!!"

Snitch was on a roll here.

"Well, uh…" I could see that it'd be hard to get out of this one.

**_

* * *

_**

**A/N: _I realize that the ending is a bit abrupt. That's because this dialogue carries over to the next scene and if I didn't cut it here, then this chapter would go on for another page. So, that's the reason. Sorry for the mini-cliffy._****_ Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter though!_**

**_CTB!_**

**_-Adren_**

**_P.S. I just realized that I haven't thanked you guys in a while, so I'll do so now. Thanks for all the kind and encouraging reviews; they always boost my energy level. And a special thank you to my ever-amazing beta Laelyn, for her helpful grammar tips and awesome story advice. I couldn't do it without you Lae! :D  
_**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:**_** I own nothing you recognize.**_

**A/N: Not much to say. Hope you guys like this! :D Keep on carrying the banner!**

_**

* * *

**_

**Chapter Fifteen**

"What's all the racket about?" Snoddy, Swifty and Bumlets sauntered up to me and the steaming mad Snitch.

"Snitch is mad." I sighed.

"No duh!" Swifty rolled his eyes and Bumlets smiled.

"What's wrong Snitchy?"

"Just-that-GAH!" Snitch glared at me so fiercely that I took a step back. He hissed, "I can't believe you!"

"Snitch, what the heck is going on?" Snoddy asked again.

"Yeah Snitchy," teased Bumlets.

Snitch swung his hot gaze towards Bumlets. "Don't call me Snitchy," he snapped. Bumlets didn't blink. Like me, he had known Snitch for a long time…and he was braver than me.

"Ask. Him." Snitch's tone was icy and he pointed a finger at me. The guys looked at me expectantly.

"Well, uh. You see-" I was floundering, trying to figure out a way to tell the guys without another explosion.

"He has a heart disorder," a voice behind me said. All five of us jumped and swung around.

Spot rested his elbow on my shoulder. "Our Itey-boy has a disorder in that big heart of his."

There was a shocked silence from Bumlets, Snoddy and Swifty, but Snitch just groaned. "Great. First you're a big liar, and now I find out that Spot knew about this before me. _Spot _of all people!"

Spot ignored Snitch. The rest of the guys were coming up to us by now and I was surrounded by our small crowd.

"Itey, is it true?" Bumlets asked in a hushed whisper, as if it were too terrible to say aloud.

I sighed and nodded my head. "Yeah guys, it's true."

"You're not gonna die are ya?" Mush was at my side and looking at me with his big brown eyes.

I couldn't help but smile a bit. "No Mush, I'm not going to die."

"What's gonna happen to ya then?" Dutchy wanted to know.

I shrugged. "We're gonna see a cardiologist and…see what they say to do."

All the boys were still looking at me, worry and concern flooding their eyes. And for one selfish moment, I wished I could keep that concern. To reassure me that they did care because we were friends.

The five minute bell rang.

"I've gotta go guys," I said quickly, hauling my backpack up on my shoulders. I looked behind me at Spot and mouthed a thank you. He nodded graciously. I don't know why I thanked him. I think it was because he got the truth out right away before it turned into another web of lies. Spot did me a favor then, just like the night before.

The boys dispersed as I began to leave, nearly each one giving me a gentle punch on the shoulder or at least catching my eye. It gave me that secure feeling again, knowing that I was cared for. I felt another hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Jake. "Hey man," I greeted, smiling.

Jake looked sad. "I'm sorry Itey," he whispered.

I stopped in my tracks. "For what?" I asked.

Jake shrugged and continued walking. I quickly caught up with him. "For what?" I repeated.

"For not telling you," he mumbled, staring at his shoes.

My mind blanked. "Telling me what?"

Jake looked at me then and I could've sworn I saw his eyes mist a little. "About the heart disorder not being serious."

"I know it's not serious Jake," I said, surprised.

"I know," he said sadly. "I just wished I could've told ya, so that you wouldn't have freaked out or anything. I was gonna, but Swifty interrupted us when we were talking."

Ah, so that was what Jake was about to say. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it Jake, its okay."

Jake tried to smile. "Yeah, I guess so. I just feel bad that you had to go through that."

I grinned nonchalantly. "How do you know I freaked out anyway?" I asked slyly. "I could've been cool as a cucumber."

That got Jake to smile. "Yeah right. I know you Itey, you must've had a heart attack when you heard the news." We both stopped for a moment, and then laughed at his pun. It felt good to laugh.

I gently punched his shoulder. "Thanks Jake."

He smiled and said, "See ya later Itey," then he headed off to his class.

I smiled and then the thought of Snitch hit me. I looked over my shoulder. He was slowly walking into the school by himself. I almost went back to him, but then caught sight of the clock. I would have to hurry to math class if I didn't want detention. I would just have to make up with Snitch later; I decided and then charged down the hallway, hoping to make it to math on time.

"So, I want you to practice this piece for the next rehearsal." Medda showed me a new piece of music and I let out a whistle.

"Looks hard."

Medda smiled. "It is, but I know you can play it."

That made me grin. "Thanks Medda."

I got up from the piano bench and began putting my books in my backpack. The rest of the guys- Pie, Bumlets, and Dutchy- had already headed to study hall.

"See ya tomorrow Medda!" I called as I started out of the auditorium.

"Wait Itey!" she called and poked her head out of the closet door. "Hold on for a sec," she told me as I turned around. I waited patiently as she finally got the prop she wanted from the closet. She smiled at me as she shut the door and went over to the piano bench. "Sit down Itey."

I sat in a chair and slid my backpack below it. Medda looked at me concerned. "I hear that something is going on with your heart Itey -- mind telling me about it?"

My first instinct was to be irritated by her knowing about it. After all, the explosion with Snitch this morning had me a little tense and I didn't like talking about it. Then I remembered that it was Medda talking here; she was practically my _aunt_ we were so close. It shouldn't have surprised me that much that she knew already.

"Well, I've got a disorder in my heart, but it's not really serious. Like, it's never going to kill me or anything," I explained. "I just found out last night so I don't know a lot about it."

Medda looked surprised. "Well then…"

"How do you know anyway?" I asked.

Medda laughed. "I was just curious after hearing the boys mention it to each other."

"Eavesdropping?" I couldn't resist teasing her.

Green eyes sparkled. "No, just good hearing."

We laughed and I picked up my bag. "Was that all?"

Medda stood up with me. "Yeah," she said and smiled again. "I just wanted that cleared up. The boys had me nervous for a little bit." Her attitude reminded me that she was indeed an actress. She hadn't let on at all that she knew, but kept it quiet so that no one would catch on. Good old Medda. "Keep me informed alright?"

I nodded. "I will." And then I headed to study hall, hearing Medda begin to play her piano. It made me feel better: she was playing a friendly, familiar song.

_That's someone else who cares about me, _I thought to myself. _I'm not alone._

Going into study hall, I felt alright. Medda talking to me about the heart disorder really helped. Other than the little spat with Snitch, I was okay. It felt weird to be so calm about this, but after having this disorder for a month and a half, I was beginning to loosen up a bit more. Knowing that the disorder could never really kill me also made me feel better. I felt a lot more confident…at the moment. Knowing me, I would probably have a panic attack that night. I sauntered into the classroom and headed towards Snitch.

Snitch was by himself at a table, scribbling furiously into his notebook.

"Hey Snitch," I said.

He looked up. "Hey Itey."

This was new. Usually when we fought, at least one of us was pretty icy with each the other. Snitch didn't sound mad at all. He just sounded…neutral. As if nothing had happened. Not really warm, but definitely not angry.

"You mad?" I asked as I sat next to him.

"Should I be?" His question hung in the air.

I thought about it. "Well, you seemed to be this morning," I finally answered.

Snitch looked at me. "I was surprised," he said, placing emphasis on the last word.

I snickered. "I never knew you swore when you were surprised."

That got Snitch to smile a little. "How did you expect me to act?"

I wiped the smile off my face and shrugged. "I don't know," I answered truthfully. "I guess I didn't expect you to really freak out."

Snitch tossed his head. "Well, the way you delivered it was pretty shocking."

I laughed. "I guess so."

Snitch chuckled along with me. "I'm not mad Itey; I'm just worried," he told me when our laughter lapsed into silence.

"I told you that it wasn't life threatening though." I felt a little confused.

Snitch looked me dead in the eye. "Itey, if I had something wrong with my heart, regardless of whether it was serious or not, wouldn't you be a little worried?"

I looked away from his gaze. "I guess so," I mumbled. I realized that I didn't want to talk about it. Thinking about Snitch having something wrong with him scared me and suddenly, I was glad that it was me with the heart disorder. I've never considered myself brave, but I'd much rather deal with something inside of me being wrong, instead of in my friend where I couldn't do anything about it. It was then that I understood what Snitch was getting at.

"I get what you're saying," I said. "I'm sorry."

Snitch shrugged it off. "It's no big deal. But—" he gave me a sad smile, "we've been fighting a lot lately."

"I guess we have," I agreed. "I'm sorry about that too."

"Stop apologizing Itey;" Snitch interrupted. "It's my fault too."

At his statement, I began to laugh. "What?" Snitch sounded irritated and little hurt.

"Sorry," I gasped out and then another wave of laughter came over me. I clutched my ribs, almost snorting with laughter.

"_What_ is so funny?" Snitch asked sounding exasperated.

"We sound like girls!" I finally got out and started to giggle again.

Snitch raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"We just keep apologizing and acting all proper; it's just stupid!" I had been in a funk for the last few days and laughing this hard felt great, especially when Snitch realized what I was getting at and began howling too. It was so ridiculous that we couldn't help ourselves.

"Sonofagun," Snitch wheezed and then hiccuped, which encouraged a fresh wave of laughter from both of us. We were getting some strange stares from the others in the room. I don't think either of us cared though. We were good friends and that was really all that mattered. We weren't going to fight about this again.


	16. Chapter 16

_Disclaimer: See previous chapters_

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

_Here we go again_, I thought. Once again, my parents and I were headed to downtown Manhattan. Although this time we were more prepared and were going to a different doctor. Still, we were all apprehensive.

Going to the doctor's was like a routine now -- even if it was a new doctor, or as the professionals put it: a _cardiologist. _Whatever. I just hoped she knew her stuff...

And that she didn't take unnecessary tests like blood pressure. That'd be good.

The only person I told about the cardiologist appointment was Snitch. I didn't really want anyone asking me stuff before the appointment; it'd make me more nervous. I was kind of tense and since Snitch was my best friend, he'd realize it, even if no one else would.

"It'll go fine," he promised me. "Don't you start worrying again."

I smirked. "Don't worry, I won't." I truly wasn't that worried. I felt pretty confident about this heart disorder now -- more nonchalant at least. True, it was a bit weird to think about at night, but it didn't freak me out as much when an attack occurred. I was sure that Dr. McIntyre would answer all my questions too, since I had learned that it's always best not to look on the Internet for medical sources; you end up thinking you have every sort of disease in the world.

Trust me, it's happened. (Terrible story involving myself, Specs, Bumlets and Dutchy. Dutchy actually thought he had some rare tropical disease when it was really just a common cold. It was funny, but taught me never to lookonline for this stuff. Thus, I hadn't researched heart disorders at all.)

Excuse me, I digress. Ahem.

We got to the clinic in amazing time which was because we almost got lost in that maze of a building. It was huge! We needed one of those "YOU ARE HERE" signs like in the mall. Eventually however, we found the clinic and pushed open the door.

The office was sunny and friendly-looking. Comfy chairs were scattered everywhere along with a toy house in the corner. A magazine rack hung by a table and a group of chairs. The walls were painted a lively green. Overall, it was very friendly and relaxing. I felt at complete ease.

We waited for about ten minutes until my name was called and then my parents and I followed a nurse through a door and into a new hallway.

"We'll have to take your height and weight first," Nurse Shannon told me. Unlike the one at the specialists, this nurse was pretty and smiled a lot. Reading her name tag, I noticed her name was Shannon. After she took my height and weight, we were showed into a small room that had an excellent view of the New York skyline.

"Now, I just need to take your blood pressure and you'll be all set," Shannon said, leaving the room for a moment.

My parents laughed as I groaned. "Do I have to have my blood pressure taken everywhere I go?"

"Actually, it's like your height and weight; we need to know it," my nurse came back in the room smiling, towing the four foot high machine along with her.

My eyes bugged out. "What is that?"

Shannon laughed. "It's going to take your blood pressure. Instead of having to pump the air to the cuff, the machine does it for me and measures everything too."

I resisted the urge to groan. "How fun," I said dryly.

Shannon just smiled. "It doesn't take long, trust me." I wasn't sure if I did.

The cuff was the same as always and slid on to my upper arm. Then Shannon flipped on the machine and it began cutting off my circulation. Now, this machine was much worse than the regular stuff. For one, it didn't just pump you, hold the air in and then let it loose after a bit. No, this one pumped you full of air, held it there for a while and would release only sections of the air at a time. Thus, it kept the pressure going. Boy did it hurt!

"There! All done," Shannon slid the cuff off my arm as the machine beeped and rest of the air was let out. "Now was it that bad?"

"Yes," I answered truthfully.

Shannon laughed. "Dr. McIntyre will be in to see you in just a few minutes."

I nodded and my parents said goodbye. We waited for about five more minutes before Dr. McIntyre stepped into the room. As soon as she did, I felt better.

This visit had promised to be better and it was.

I just liked her from the moment I saw her. Though serious, she still had a pleasant look on her face. I felt like I could trust her.

"Hello," she said, smiling and shaking each of our hands. Her handshake felt firm which for some reason, made me feel quite happy. We all sat down again and my parents and I looked at Dr. McIntyre expectantly.

"Well," she said shuffling through the papers in her hands. "It seems Michael has a heart disorder, hmm?"

"Yup," I answered reminding myself mentally, _be nonchalant._

"Alright," Dr. McIntyre pulled out a sheet of paper and clicked her pen. Then she looked at us expectantly. "I assume you don't know much about this yet do you?" she asked gauging our main thoughts right away.

We all nodded.

Dr. McIntyre smiled. "Then let's get right down to business. What you have, Michael is tachycardia. It is a form of heart disorder where your heart can either go too fast or too slow. More commonly it's beating too fast."

_Tachycardia_, I thought, committing it to memory.

"However," Dr. McIntyre continued, "saying you have tachycardia is like telling people you have a rash; there are many different cases of it. The kind you have is called supraventricular tachycardia. Your heart obviously speeds up and it fatigues you," she glanced at me. "Does that sound right to you?"

I nodded and then spoke; "But how did I get it? I've only had it for a few months."

Dr. McIntyre nodded. "I'm getting to that. SVT isn't something that is contracted from anywhere or that it means that your heart is seriously damaged. As a matter of fact, everyone is born with tachycardia."

Both my parents and my jaws dropped.

"How is that possible?" Mom asked, eyes imploring.

The cardiologist looked at her. "Do you remember feeling your son's heart as an infant? It was fast was it not?"

Both Mom and Dad nodded to that one.

Dr. McIntyre continued. "All babies are born with this tachycardia and/or arrhythmia, another type of irregular heartbeat. However the arrhythmia that Michael has is probably less severe than most." She looked at me. "Does your heart skip beats occasionally?"

I frowned but before I could answer, my mom did. "Mine does," she said. "Not very often, but some of the time."

"I see." Dr. McIntyre wrote that down. "Does anyone else in your family have something unusual with their heart?"

"My sisters have a type of an arrhythmia too," Dad spoke up.

"Aright then," Dr. M wrote that down as well then looked at me. "And Michael, do you have any heart skips?"

I shook my head. "Not really. My heart sometimes feels," I searched for the right words, "I don't know, like my chest is a little compressed. My heart doesn't really skip or anything; it just hurts a little."

"You haven't told me about this?" Dad said indignantly.

I gave him a sheepish look. "It wasn't that big a deal."

"No, you told me, remember?" Mom spoke up. "A few days after your first SVT attack."

I shook my head. "That was just regular tachycardia. It didn't feel like this."

"So it's possible you have some arrhythmia as well as SVT." Dr. McIntyre scribbled this down also. "That's not serious though; the two usually go together."

"Is the SVT serious?" Dad asked.

Dr. McIntyre shook her head. "Not really. It can never really harm your heart."

"That's what Dr. Dekko told us," I reminded my parents.

"But Dr. Dekko never told us the treatments for it," Dad said and then turned to Dr. M. "Do you know of what to-"

The cardiologist held up her hand. "I'm getting to that in a moment." She took a breath. "As I said before, all infants are born with a type of tachycardia. It typically stops after eight months of age. However, one out of three people will have it return around the time of puberty."

"So how does it actually work?" I asked. I didn't understand why my heart went too fast in the first place.

Dr. McIntyre smiled. "That's what I'm going to show you." She pulled out a small notepad that had a sketch of a heart on each one. She pulled out a pen and pointed to the first tube. "This is where your beats are coming through..."

I don't really remember all the medical stuff, but this was the gist of it: the electric pulse of the heart runs through some ventricles and then exits the heart. In a tachycardia heart however, there is a small hole in the tube that the pulse leaves the heart in. This hole allows every other pulse to go back through the heart for a second ride before leaving. This is what causes the heartbeat to be faster.

"So what exactly do we do about this?" Dad asked, repeating his earlier question.

Dr. McIntyre smiled. "I'm glad you asked. Fortunately, SVT is easy to treat since it is not truly dangerous. There are four options for you. The first is to do nothing, which isn't highly recommended simply becauseSVT can be more and more difficult to recover from as people get older."

Dad nodded. "Go on."

"The second option," Dr. McIntyre continued, "is to have a pacemaker put in. This is usually just for slower heartbeats and/or older persons. It can also be a bit hard for younger people because of the actual procedure to put it in and of course, the fact that you have a piece of metal in your collarbone." She smiled. "Setting off alarms in stores and airports isn't that fun either -- for any age."

I frowned. "But how then would the pacemaker help at all?"

"It helps a slower heart beat faster by sending electrical pulses to the heart muscle, using a tiny battery and computer. The pulses are sent by wires," Dr. McIntyre explained. "As I said before, its typically used for slower types of tachycardia, not faster types"

I nodded slowly. "Okay…"

"The third option is to use medicine," Dr. M. kept going, "The medicine would be in the form of a pill that you would take everyday."

"Is there ever a problem with that?" Dad asked.

Dr. McIntyre shrugged. "Yes and no. The thing with these medications is that they don't cure SVT; they just prevent it from happening. They're easy to use, but you'd have to take them for the rest of your life. Most people don't like that."

"So what's the fourth option?" I asked.

"A catheter ablation," Dr. McIntyre said flatly. "A heart procedure where a team of surgeons and I go in and burn the irregular pathway so that the pulses can't go through it anymore. It rids the person of tachycardia, usually forever. It very rarely comes back. The procedure itself is very simple actually."

"Is it like an open heart surgery?" Mom asked frowning.

The cardiologist shook her head quickly. "No, not at all. We go in down by the groin using tiny wires called catheters and come up through the heart from there. It is a very safe and easy procedure. I've done it several hundred times."

My jaw dropped. Several _hundred_?

Dad smiled broadly. "So at least we know that you know what you're doing."

Dr. McIntyre smiled. "Oh yes. I have yet to lose a patient."

I nodded, taking the information in. It didn't sound too bad; maybe we'd do it. Besides, I didn't really want to have SVT for the rest of my life; this would be a good solution and preferable to taking daily pills.

"So, how is it in relation to a regular surgery?" Mom asked.

"A lot more simple," Dr. McIntyre chuckled. "Basically, you don't eat for twelve hours before the procedure. You go in, the patient is put under so that he or she will stay completely still for the procedure- if they move even involuntarily, it could seriously hurt them. Then, I study the heart's regular rhythms for about a half hour and then insert the catheters. We trigger the tachycardia, study the rhythm and then burn the hole."

"So what do you mean by 'putting the patient under' thing?" I asked suspiciously.

"We give them anesthesia – a drug to put them asleep and keep the pain away," the cardiologist explained smoothly.

"Through an IV?" I asked tentatively, almost dreading an answer. I had a deathly fear of needles.

"An IV is the least of your worries," Dr. McIntyre smiled at me as if she understood what I meant "but yes, the anesthesia is administered through an IV that the patient wears."

Okay, I did _not_ want to do the ablation now. Screw it; I'd deal with the SVT for the rest of my life. It couldn't be that bad could it?

"After you finish the actual procedure what happens?" Dad asked.

"Ah yes, sorry, I got sidetracked." The cardiologist smiled. "When the patient wakes, he or she will get to eat and just relax. I like to keep my patients overnight in the hospital; it's easier on the parents and us. Then we can keep an eye on them to make sure everything went alright."

Okay,_ exnay_ on the hospital stay.

"The next morning, you'd get to go home." She smiled at me. "The patient can't soak in a bathtub or go swimming for a week, though he or she may shower. You'd have to take it easy for the next few days, which means no running around, but if it was done on Thursday and you got home on Friday, you'd be able to go back to school on Monday."

Mom smiled. "It sounds like it's a good procedure."

Dr. McIntyre nodded her head. "It is. It's very simple, relatively painless, and a _very _quick recovery." She looked at all of us. "Any questions?"

Mom and Dad looked at each other, and then me.

"I don't think so," Mom smiled and then she and Dad stood up and shook hands with the cardiologist.

"We'll think about our options and get back to you soon," Dad promised as I hopped off the table.

"Great," Dr. McIntyre then shook hands with me, "I'll see you soon then."

I tried to smile. "Thanks."

We then left the office.

Mom and Dad chatted the whole way home.

"I think the surgery's a good idea," Mom declared. "It'll all work out and we won't have to worry about it again."

"I agree," Dad nodded.

I looked at them. "Are you serious?" I couldn't believe them. I suppose it would be easy just to hang out in the waiting room, but for the kid who actually had to have the IV stuck in him, it wasn't a nice idea.

Mom turned around to look at me. "You don't like the idea?"

I shrugged and looked out the window. "It's okay." No way did I want my parents to know that I was scared of the whole idea.

"Honey, an IV isn't that bad," Mom soothed.

I scowled. Why was it that everyone could easily figure out that I was scared of needles?

"Look," I said. "I just don't want you guys to blow your money on some procedure that I don't really need."

"But you do need it, Michael," Dad told me, his eyes catching mine in the review mirror. "You don't want to live your entire life having a heart disorder do you?"

I looked away guiltily. No, I didn't, but the idea of having an IV and staying in the hospital overnight was a scary thought.

"We'll talk about it more when we get home," Dad said in response to my silence. "Nothing's final yet."

I breathed a small sigh of relief, though I had a feeling that this ablation idea wasn't going to go away.

I was right; it didn't. The next morning my parents confronted me and decided that it was final and I should have the catheter ablation.

Mom put her arm around me. "You'll be fine."

I sighed, accepting my fate. There was nothing I could do about it. I would just have to man-up and take this procedure as it came.

But I was still scared.

**_

* * *

_**

**A/N: Well there ya have it folks; Itey has a heart disorder called SVT. Wahoo! ;D Jk. Just so you guys know, this is how you pronounce the name of the disorder: **

**Tachycardia- tack-uh-card-e-ah**

**Supraventricular- Super-ven-trick-u-ler**

**Arrhythmia- uh-rhy (similar to rhythm)-ma**

**And now that all of you are more learned on the subject of heart disorders, mind leaving me a review? ;D**

**Until next time!**

**-Adren**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize  
**

**A/N: I had so much fun writing this chapter! (Besides the one w/ Spot, this one is my fave.) I've been waiting for it for a long time; since the beginning of this fic actually! :D Anyway, there's a bit of Skittles humor thrown in for ya'll; hope it's enjoyed. :)  
**

**Just a reminder to everyone, there is no slash in this story. Never has been, never will be. Any implications of slash are totally misunderstood. Got it? Good.**

**With that out of the way; enjoy this chapter! (And only a day after the last update! Wowza!)  


* * *

**

**Chapter Seventeen**

In a way, I was glad that Mom and Dad had told me that I was having the ablation before I went to school; at least I'd be able to give Snitch a full update about what was going to happen. On the other hand, I didn't really want to have to deal with the idea that the ablation was definitely a go. Then I could at least hope that they might not do it.

Guess not.

Oh well, I was okay. I hadn't had a major freak out yet, and there was a chance that I wouldn't at all.

Ha! That was a laugh. I ended up having a freak out, several actually, but not for a while.

"Hey Eye-Talian!" I was tackled into a bear hug by Snitch as I walked outside my door after my parents dropped the bombshell.

I smiled. "Hey Snitch."

Snitch slung an arm around my shoulder. "So, how'd it go?"

_Don't tell him!_

There was that irritating little voice again.

_Why not?_

_Like I was saying before, don't burden him down with your pathetic little troubles!_

_He's my friend; he deserves to know! And he asked, I didn't bring it up!_

_Fine! Have it your way you selfish twit!_

Ignoring the voice, I shrugged. "Not bad; at least we found out what it was."

Snitch waited for it.

"It's called Supraventricular tachycardia," I explained. "SVT for short."

"So that's what you have?"

"Yup."

"Wow."

And as simple as that, I told my best friend about my little adventure at the cardiologist's. I acted like it wasn't that big a deal; probably because I didn't want to think about it all that much. I'd have plenty of time for that later.

As I finished, Snitch nodded. "You'll have to tell me when your surgery-"

"Procedure," I corrected automatically.

Snitch rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just tell me when it is. Then I'll come visit you in the hospital, 'kay? Just as long as you don't make me eat any of your nasty hospital food."

I rolled my eyes, but smiled. "Deal."

We spit-shook on the matter.

All that day, Snitch and I told the other guys about what was going on. Almost every one of my close pals had been notified. A lot of them promised to visit me in the hospital or at least the day I came home (which looked like it would be a Friday). I gotta say, that made me feel a whole lot better about the procedure. I had also told Medda before I went to lunch since I had promised to tell her as well. She was very nice about it and told me she'd see me first thing Monday morning. (I'd feel a bit awkward with her visiting me. I figured she felt the same way.)

"I'm home!" I called as I opened the front door. I felt kind of cheesy doing that since only good responsible husbands do that in old movies, but I liked to holler something when I got home; it was cool hearing an echo, even when Mom was home.

"In the kitchen!" Mom hollered back.

"See ya Ites!" Snitch clapped me on the back and then headed over to his own house.

I walked into the kitchen and snatched an apple slice from the cutting board. "Howdy!" I smirked.

"Hello wise-guy!" Mom ruffled my hair and I ducked away, munching on my apple.

"Don't snack too much," Mom warned. "We're going to eat early."

"Why?" I asked, my mouth full of apple.

"We're going to the Lind's tonight, remember?" Mom said, slicing another apple.

I nearly spat out my food. "That's tonight?!"

Dutchy's family was having a party that night, kinda a "Celebrate Spring" type thing. (And you thought just Dutchy was weird? Think again 'cause his whole family is!) They do one every year and it just so happened that I forgot about it this year.

Mom nodded. "Yup. So don't forget to wear something nice."

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, it's the Lind's, do ya really think anyone is going to be dressed up?"

Mom allowed herself a small smirk. "Just wear a polo shirt, okay? No t-shirts."

I sighed. "Fine."

This time, Mom really did smile. "Better get going with your homework buddy. We're leaving promptly at six."

DING DONG!

"Come in!" a voice hollered and I opened the door. The Lucci triplets (Bumlets' ten year old brothers) scampered past us, followed by Tumbler, Skittery's younger brother, and Les, Davey's younger brother.

I kicked off my shoes and hurried into the house, leaving Mom and Dad in the foyer, taking their time. It didn't really matter though, because soon Mr. Utofft, Snitch's father, came to greet my parents.

I slid into the kitchen, scanning the room for my friends. It was already a madhouse inside; people were milling about everywhere, not to mention a lot of kids (courtesy of the rather large Lucci family.)

"Hey Itey!" Dutchy waved to me from across the room. I ran over to him and Swifty.

"It's loud ain't it?" I yelled over the din.

Dutchy nodded. "Yup!"

"Where's Snitch?" I asked, still hollering.

Swifty snickered and pointed. Snitch was coming towards us, though a bit weighed down since Zoe, another one of Bumlets' siblings, and his younger sister Ellie were clinging to his legs.

"Come on Snitchy!" Zoe whined.

"I'm gonna tell Mommy!" Ellie threatened, clinging tighter to her older brother's leg.

Snitch only had one look aimed towards us, clearly stating 'help'!

So what's a guy to do when his best friend is pinned down by two five year old girls?

That's right, you laugh. Hard.

It only added to the laughter when Snitch fell over - a cruel, yet funny joke by Bumlets, who had crept up behind Snitch and pushed him over. We roared with laughter, even after Snitch gave us death glares.

"Ha ha," he said, brushing himself off…only to be thrown to the floor again, this time by Dutchy's dog, Humphrey. (Naturally, Dutchy would name a dog that, especially a black and white Great Dane.) And of course, that meant that Ellie and Zoe just pounced on him again, pulling at his arms and whining in their high pitched voices.

Snitch could only yell, "Guys! HELP!!"

Since we had laughed hard enough already, we headed over to try and dig Snitch out of the pile of people.

Unfortunately for us, Snitch wasn't as forgiving as we thought. As soon as I reached down to grab his wrist, his hand shot out and grabbed my ankle. As a result, I fell over, crashing into Bumlets who also hit the floor. Swifty and Dutchy just ended up getting dragged down too.

So there we were, a pile of teenage boys, a Great Dane, and two five year old girls. It was pretty fun, even Snitch was laughing now, having exacted his revenge.

I flopped onto my back, exhausted. My stomach hurt from laughing so much. Finally Dutchy sat up and grinned at us. "Wanna go downstairs?"

Dutchy's basement is a lot like mine, where it has a nice TV, some comfy couches, games, etc. But the best thing about it is that since his house is on a hill, you can exit out the door downstairs and end up in the backyard. In the winter, Dutchy's family floods it so it turns into a homemade ice rink. But since it was spring, Dutch had up a volley ball net.

The five of us tore outside to the backyard where Skittery and Mush were in a heated game of volleyball, with Blink acting as the "referee", naturally driving Skittery crazy.

"Fweet! And Mush scores yet another point!" Kid was screaming at the top of his lungs and it looked like Skittery wanted to wring his neck. "Skittles loses again!"

"Will you SHUT UP ALREADY?!!!" Skittery hollered at Blink.

Kid just gave a mischievous smile. "Make me…Skittles"

Kid has never learned that daring Skittery to do anything is a bad idea.

Skittery (or Skittles) threw down the ball and flew towards Blink with absolute vengeance in his eyes.

"Ahh!" Kid took off, Skittery chasing after him, with Mush in hot pursuit, trying to convince Skittery not to murder Kid.

"Come back Mush! We need another player!" hollered Swifty.

"Skittery won't really kill Blink, don't worry!" I yelled, smirking. It was true. No matter how much Skittery huffed and puffed, we all knew that he didn't really want Blink to be dead.

Well…most of the time.

Mush did eventually come back and all of us began tossing the ball around in a playful game. None of us were actually good at volleyball except for Mush, so basically both teams were vying for him to be on their side.

After almost a half hour of volleyball, I collapsed, too tired to move. We all did, except Mr. Muscles Mush. (It's a joke…really.)

I finally got up. "I'm going to see if Skittery actually did something to Blink or not," I said smiling. I wanted to also see if I could find some of the other guys, like Race or Specs.

Bumlets stretched his hands up high and then brought them behind his head. "I'll go with ya Ites," he yawned.

"Me too," Snitch got up and the three of us trooped back in the house.

The house was still packed. We wondered around Dutchy's huge house looking for Skitts and Blink.

"Maybe we should get Humphrey and see if he can track them down," suggested Bumlets slyly.

Snitch rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, that'd work great. That dog would pay attention for approximately three seconds."

Bumlets bumped Snitch with his shoulder. "I was teasing Snitch."

"Yeah whatever," Snitch answered, looking over the tops of peoples' heads.

I chuckled. "Bad mood Snitchy?"

Snitch gave me a look. "No, I'm just shooting down a stupid idea."

"Ouch!" Bumlets clutched his chest and pretended to faint. "Thou dost wound me!"

I laughed as Snitch ignored him. "Hey Ites, you're the smallest. Wanna jump on mine and Bums' shoulders, see if you can find one of them?"

"Sure," I answered, pulling myself onto Snitch and then balancing unsteadily between him and Bumlets.

"Well, I see Specs and Jake; they're coming out of the basement," I said, looking around. Why did Dutch have to have such a _big_ living room?

A grin slid across my face. "Oh yeah, I see two people."

"Who?" Snitch was struggling under my weight.

"They saw us, don't worry." I looked down at Bumlets and winked. He got the message.

"Need to see anything else Itey?" he stalled, grinning.

"Well, I don't think-"

"No, he doesn't." Snitch pushed me off of him. "You're too heavy Ites."

I pretended to be insulted, though I kept my eyes on the other side of the room. "Gee, _thanks_."

Snitch followed mine and Bumlets' gaze and finally saw what we saw. He whipped around and glared at us. "Oh no you didn't!"

Bumlets and I just laughed as the piercing scream hit the air. "SNITCHY!!!"

Snitch just gave the two of us one more glare before turning tail and running out the door, Zoe and Ellie closely following. Zoe of course was screaming for her "beloved Snitchy" and Ellie was playing the role of the "loving" younger sister who got to tease her big bro.

Definite highpoint of my night.

I finally found Snitch in the guest bedroom, hiding under the bed. "Boy are you and Bumlets going to get it," he hissed.

I could only laugh. "This from the kid hiding under the bed."

Snitch pointed his index finger at me. "This could very well save my life, so no laughing Eye-Talian!"

There was a shriek outside the hallway that could have only belonged to a five year old girl.

Snitch's eyes went wide. "Hide!" He slid all the way underneath the bed.

I just chuckled again and then crawled halfway under the bed with him. As I did, a heart thing started up.

"C'mon Itey!" Snitch yanked me all the way under the bed and we crouched there as the door opened.

"Is he in there?" Zoe's voice called from the hallway.

"No." Ellie sounded disappointed. I heard the door shut and then silence. My heart was the only thing I could hear. I was glad that I was lying down; I was dizzy for some reason.

"You okay Itey?" Snitch studied my face.

I shut my eyes and breathed deep. "Yeah," I finally answered. "Just a heart thing."

"Need anything?" Snitch sounded worried.

I shook my head. "Uh, no. I'm fine." Why did I have to be so dizzy? The world was spinning fast.

I pulled myself from under the bed and kept breathing deeply. I lay down on my back and placed my hands over my chest. I opened my eyes when I heard a small chuckle from Snitch.

"What is it?" I asked, slightly irritated.

Snitch covered his mouth and wiped the smile off his face. "Nothing."

I scowled. "Seriously, what?"

Snitch had a mischievous smile on his face. "You look like you're in a casket on your back and your hands folded like that."

I cracked a smile. Seeing it from his perspective made me smile. I sat up and sucked in my gut, feeling my chest expand. The SVT then disappeared.

I let out a sigh. "It's over."

Snitch put an arm on my shoulder. "You okay then buddy?"

I nodded, smiling. "Fine." I didn't like that I had a bout of dizziness, but nothing really hurt, which was okay.

Snitch clapped my back. "Okay, good." Then he slid back under the bed. "If you see any of the girls," he said, his voice sounding muffled. "Don't let them know where I am."

I laughed. "You planning on staying there all night?"

"Maybe."

I rolled my own eyes. "You're gonna get awfully bored down there."

Snitch poked his head out. "That reminds me Ites; wanna get me a soda and a hot dog? I'm kinda hungry."

I groaned.

"Please man?" Snitch gave me his best puppy dog eyes.

I frowned. "Or you could just come out and eat in the kitchen like a normal person. Ever thought of that?"

This time Snitch slid out up to his waist. "Hiding in the kitchen isn't such a bad idea," he said thoughtfully, propping up on his elbows. "Not a lot of people will be there."

I sighed. "You coming or not?"

"Will you bring me a hot dog?" Snitch gave me an angelic look.

I shook my head, feeling stubborn at the moment. "No."

Snitch glared at me, but I could tell he was teasing.

I held my hand out. "C'mon Snitch. Let's go eat."

Snitch looked at me warily.

I sighed. "I promise I'll protect you from the little girls."

This time, Snitch actually did glare at me. "I don't need protection."

"Wait!" I cupped my ear. "I think I hear them!"

"What?" Snitch squeaked. He slid back under the bed.

I laughed. "I'm teasing man."

Snitch came out from under the bed and then whacked me over the head. "I knew that," he huffed.

I could only laugh. "C'mon buddy. Let's go eat."

So the party ended up being a success…even if Snitch did get mobbed two more times by the girls; Zoe trying to plant a kiss on him at the end of the party. Other than that and the dizzy heart thing, things went well.

But, come to think of it, I never found out if Blink escaped Skittery or not...I didn't see either of them the rest of the night.

* * *

**A/N: IT'S THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE NEWSBOYS' STRIKE OF 1899!!! (July 21st- Aug 2nd) PIE EATER WOO'S AND PELVIC THRUSTS EVERYONE! YEAH BABY!!!**

**:D Have a fabulous newsie-filled day!**

**Cheers!**

**-Adren  
**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize  
**

**A/N: Still the 110th anniversary of the Strike. :) Hope you enjoy (and review)!  
**

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

"June 15th." It was the first thing Mom said to me when I got home from school on Monday.

I frowned and set down my bag. "Huh?"

"The ablation," Mom explained. "We've decided that it will be on Thursday, June 15th. Then we'll get it over with before summer really gets into the swing of things, but you'll already be out of school."

I thought about it. It would be nice not to miss any school. Not that I like school a lot, no way, but I really didn't want a lot of homework. It seemed like a pretty good idea. It seemed a bit sudden though.

"Isn't this a bit sudden?" I asked Mom.

"Are you really against it?" Mom asked, looking worried. "Your father and I just thought it might be best to have it then so that you wouldn't have to worry about schoolwork."

"I know," I said, nodding. "But scheduling it now; it just seems a bit…abrupt. I mean, we only went to Dr. McIntyre a week ago." (The date was May 2nd)

Mom nodded. "I know." She hesitated. "Is it okay with you honey? We thought it would be best…"

I held up my hand. "Uh yeah. It's fine." I picked up my backpack again. "I think I'm going to go up to my room and uh, start my homework."

Mom smiled. "Okay honey."

I trudged upstairs, suddenly overwhelmed.

"In June?" Snitch sounded surprised. "That soon?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Well, not really that soon; we did think it was going to be in May for a while, remember?"

"Guess so."

"And now I won't have to deal with homework and all that school stuff," I said, trying to sound happier. When I thought about it in that light, it made things a bit nicer.

"Kinda stinks though; to start your summer off that way," Snitch said thoughtfully.

_Well when you put it that way…_

"Not if it goes well." I forced myself to sound cheerful. "I'll be all set for doing whatever I want in the summer without my parents worrying."

"Yeah, I guess so." We were quiet until Snitch broke the silence. "Listen Ites, I gotta go. You take care, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." I said feeling a bit down. "Thanks buddy. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Carrying the banner," Snitch reminded me.

I smiled. "Carrying the banner."

I became a lot quieter in the weeks before the ablation; not that anyone noticed. It was to make sure no one really knew what was going to happen, that no one would suspect. Not to say that the boys didn't know about the ablation, they did. However, I didn't want to talk about it a lot and I think everyone realized that.

I was pretty calm until a week or two before; that was where the real panic set in. I would get random panic attacks at school, nothing serious, but sudden fits of depression would come over me. After that, I would think of the actual operation and my palms would begin to sweat.

I didn't let on to anyone though. I never wanted anyone to know and to this day, still no one knows. I was terrified of the procedure, but I didn't tell the boys. Well, Snitch found out, but other than him, no one knew.

It shows how well Snitch and I know each other because he could tell right away that something was wrong. Well, he didn't spot it right away, but he figured out the clues.

Making sense?

Didn't think so.

Well, it's like this; so Snitch and I hang out a lot, doing stuff at each other's houses, going to the pool, arcade, whatever. Well, a few times doing that, I would actually have a heart thing happen. (Funny how I've always referred to it as the "heart thing" even after I found out that it was SVT. But I digress.)

I didn't make a big deal out of it and most of the time, Snitch never noticed. But there were a few times where I had to sit down and put my head on my knees. (A method of getting rid of the rapid heart beat was to sit down, hug my knees, and take a deep breath. It would usually work.)

One particular time was when we were taking a jog around the neighborhood. We had just worked ourselves up to a sprint and were running as fast as either of us could when my heart jumped and began an SVT attack. Thankfully, I didn't faint, but I definitely had to collapse onto the nearest bench or I might've.

"Ya alright Itey?"

"I'm okay."

"Then why'd you stop?"

"...I'm having a heart thing."

"Oh."

He sat beside me and waited until the attack passed. Then we slowly walked home.

That attack had been pretty obvious of what was happening. Another time however, it was different.

We were at the community pool with some of the other guys. In the middle of playing some water basketball, an attack came over me.

"Be right back!" I called as we took a brief timeout. I pulled myself out the pool and went to our stuff, pretending to rifle through my bag looking for something.

"What's wrong Itey?" Snitch had sneaked up behind me and leaned an elbow on my shoulder.

"Nothing," I replied nonchalantly. "I just needed to check my cell phone." I didn't tell him because I didn't want him to worry. It wasn't that serious anyway. I just needed to rest a bit and then I'd be fine.

"You have a heart thing going on don't you?"

It was one of those times that Snitch just knew by looking at me.

"It's no big deal." I said quickly, trying to get the heart thing to stop. I was unsuccessful in my breathing efforts because it just kept going.

"Need to lie down?" Snitch asked.

I shook my head. "Nah," I took a seat, trying to look casual. "It sometimes works just by hugging my knees," I told him, demonstrating as I talked. I tried to act as if this was completely normal.

I hugged my knees and took the deepest breath I could. It worked and the heart thing stopped.

"Ya comin' back fellas?" Jack's voice faintly called us.

I waved. "Yeah!"

I frantically dug around in my bag. "Pretend like we're looking for my phone or something," I hissed at Snitch.

He laughed as he pointed out that my cell phone was right next to my bag. "Why?"

"Cuz then the boys won't know," I said, flipping open my phone and pretending to text.

Snitch shook his head and sighed. I ignored him. "I'm going back to the pool," Snitch said, smiling.

"Tell them that I got an urgent call," I told him, bringing the phone to my ear. "I'll be back in a sec."

Snitch shrugged. "Whatever."

I knew he thought I was crazy but I didn't care. I didn't want the other boys to know and that was final.

It was the day. Oh man, it was the day. I had been waiting for it for a little over a month.

Yup, it was the night before my ablation.

I had actually been pretty neutral all day. The nice thing was that I was out of school already, so almost no one really knew. Most of the fellas forgot. That was okay though; I didn't really talk about it that much anyway. The boys would probably be reminded of it by the time I got back, so I didn't really mind. Oh well. It seemed surreal that after all these months; I was finally going to not have SVT anymore.

We had gotten a packet a few weeks ago, explaining what the ablation would do. I already knew from Dr. McIntyre what was going to happen so this was basically a review. It told us when we had to get into the hospital (six a.m.!). I'd get changed, have some basic check ups done (blood pressure again; ugh!) and possibly an EKG. Then they'd insert the IV and I'd go to sleep, waking up several hours later. I'd spend a night in the hospital and then get to go home in the morning.

Basically, everything was set.

The only problem was that I was scared to death.

I suppose it wasn't too unexpected; here I was, a sixteen year old kid who was going to have a heart procedure in the morning. Maybe it was expected, but that didn't make it any better.

Okay, so maybe I wasn't screaming and throwing a tantrum, but something was definitely wrong with me. I felt quiet, reserved, and wanting to be left alone. Thankfully, my parents understood that. They watched a movie in the den and invited me to come with, but I declined. I wanted to be alone.

Well, not quite.

I wanted to see Snitch. It obviously wouldn't be too hard, since he was my next door neighbor, but I didn't want to impose on him. The fact that both of us had barged into each other's houses multiple times over the years didn't seem to help me though. Neither did Snitch's reassurance that morning that if I needed to talk or anything, that I had to call him pronto, which was understandable because I'd do the same if I were him. But when you're on the end of the person going through the procedure, things are a bit different.

Regardless, I wanted to see him.

Looking out my window, I looked over to see if he was in his room or the yard. I didn't see him.

Sighing, I pulled out my phone and stared at it, hoping to see it ring any second. I was too chicken to call my best friend.

What a way to man-up.

Suddenly, it rang. I flipped it open after the first ring, not even looking to see if it was Snitch or not. Luckily for me, it was.

"You doing okay?"

I sighed. "Kinda."

"Betcha you're scared." Snitch sounded like he was teasing, but something in his tone said otherwise.

"Yeah," I said flatly. There was use in hiding it.

"So uh, whatcha doing right now?" he asked, sounding a bit uncomfortable.

"Nothing really," I said and we lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. It was way too touchy a subject to just talk on the phone about.

I looked at my digital clock. It was eight thirty. "Hey, could you meet me in the yard?"

Snitch sounded surprised but agreed anyway. "Uh, yeah, sure."

"Hurry," I said, and then hung up. I ran down to the yard and sat on the trampoline, biting my lip nervously.

I didn't have to wait long. Snitch soon vaulted over the fence, spotted me and then hopped onto the trampoline along with me. He gave me a gentle punch on the shoulder. "Doin' alright, kiddo?"

I shoved him. "I'm only younger than you by a few months."

Snitch's eyes sparkled. "Yeah, I know…little guy."

I shoved him again but I ended up laughing, which was just what I needed. I lay on my back and stared at the now darkening sky.

"So, are you doing okay?" Snitch asked, lying on his side looking at me.

I shrugged, eyes still looking up. "I'm okay. Just nervous."

"Don't blame you buddy; I'd be too." Following my example, Snitch also rolled onto his back and looked up.

We lay there in silence. A lump rose up in my throat as the realization hit me; tomorrow, I'd be in the hospital, IV in me, and about to be operated on. Panic set in and I sat up, clutching tight to my knees.

Snitch sat up just as quickly. "You having a heart thing?" he asked sounding worried.

I didn't answer. I just hugged myself tighter and rocked back and forth, biting to fight back tears. Snitch patted my shoulder awkwardly. "It'll be okay. Just think, by tomorrow night, you won't have any of these anymore!" He still thought that I was having a heart thing.

I uncurled my body, rubbed my eyes, sighed. "I can't do this Snitch." I didn't tell him that I wasn't having an SVT attack.

My best friend looked at me surprised. "What do you mean?"

I shook my head. "I just can't. I can't do this - tomorrow, I mean."

"Aw Itey." Snitch scooted closer to me and gently put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't you remember what I always say?"

I didn't say anything, resisting the urge to tell him to shut up.

"Itey, look at me." Snitch's voice was sharp and full of authority. I reluctantly looked at him. He stared at me straight in the eye. "Saying 'can't' is the same as saying 'won't'. Are you saying that you won't do this ablation?"

"It's not the same thing," I told him, pushing his hand off my shoulder. I looked away.

"Yes it is."

"No, it's not."

"You too scared to do this?"

I didn't answer for a while. "Look, I don't want to argue about this," I finally said tiredly. Snitch looked at me then and I swear I could've seen some Conlon attitude there.

"Ites, you _can_ do this; don't tell yourself that you can't." Snitch then smirked and my suspicions were confirmed. He acted too much like Spot right then. "It's not like you can get out of it anyway."

That got me to smirk too. "Guess not."

"You'll be fine Itey," Snitch reassured.

I smiled and looked at him. "Glad you're my friend Snitch," I said softly.

Snitch looked a bit surprised but still smiled. "Right back at ya brother," he grinned and then pulled me into a headlock. "Ya better be happy too, cuz it could always be worse."

"How so?" I questioned, struggling to remove his arms.

"I could be completely spazzing out like a girl right now. Getting you super freaked out about this." Snitch laughed as my efforts failed. Finally he released me and just smirked as I glared at him. "Instead of that, I'm calming you down."

"With a headlock?" I teased.

Snitch smirked. "I'm distracting you."

Before I could answer that 'brilliant' answer, Mrs. Utofft hollered from the porch "Lucas, time to come in!"

Snitch smiled. "You'll be fine Ites," he said softly.

I smiled shakily. "Ya sure?"

Snitch smirked. "Would I lie?" His smirk turned into a caring smile and he pulled me into a tight hug. "Keep on carrying the banner, okay? I'll be there when you wake up." He flashed me one more bright grin at me and then hurried into his house. "Call if ya need anything!" he hollered before going in. "Doesn't matter what time it is; it'll be fine!"

I laughed and rolled off the trampoline. Snitch probably wouldn't mind, but I had a feeling that his parents would. I walked into the house, feeling a bit better.


	19. Chapter 19

_Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit, the Princess Bride, Looney Tunes Band-Aids, Snoopy Band-Aids, Cinderella, Hellboy 2, The Little Rascals, or Wolverine claw marks. (X-Men). FYI, this disclaimer will make sense at the end.) Oh, and I don't own the newsies. Boo! :`(_

**Author's Note: Here it is folks, the moment we've been waiting for this entire fic; THE BIG SCARY ABLATION!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! **

**... ~cough~ Ahem. R&R please!**

* * *

**Chapter 19**

It was the day of my ablation. I had to wake up at five o'clock that morning. The one nice thing about waking up early was that the nerves were kept at bay by the sleepiness. I stumbled out of bed and then winced as my stomach growled. I wanted desperately to eat something, anything; but I couldn't. I wasn't allowed to eat anything six to eight hours before the procedure, except a little water. My stomach ached, begging for something to nourish it. I sucked in my gut, trying to get rid of the growling and then went on with getting dressed.

My parents were already awake and ready. I was thankful that they ate before I came down; there was less temptation that way.

"Let's go son." Dad put a hand on my shoulder as we left.

"You know what I keep thinking of?" Mom announced when we got in the car.

I leaned against the car window, hoping for sunshine to shine through. It didn't. The sky was overcast and cloudy. "What?"

Mom pulled out a book from her purse. "A quote from _The Princess Bride_."

I rolled my eyes. _The Princess Bride_ was a book that my mom and dad loved. It was okay, but I honestly wasn't that into it. It was just another story and though I like reading, _The Princess Bride_ just wasn't my thing.

"Here it is," Mom said, pulling the book open and handing it back to me. "Read those few paragraphs, Michael. They're in the middle of the page."

"Okay," I said and took the book. It was at the part where two of the secondary characters, Fezzik and Inigo are descending down into a pit, and both are scared to pieces. This is what the book said;

"_Are you frightened too?" asked Fezzik in the darkness. _

_"Not…remotely," Inigo said with great care. "…Look: we can't go back and we certainly don't want to stay here, so we just must keep on going as we were before these little things happened….Let's look on the bright side: we're having an adventure, Fezzik, and most people live and die without being as lucky as we are."_

I sat back and thought about the small piece for a moment. Though both men were scared, they kept going because they couldn't go any direction except forward. This brought to mind a quote from _The Hobbit_ as well;

"_Go back?" [Bilbo] thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!"_

I hadn't read _The Hobbit_ in ages, but that quote somehow jumped into mind. I handed the book back to mom.

"Thanks," I said quietly and then plugged in my iPod to make sure my parents didn't bug me. I didn't turn it on though. I just sat in the car and thought.

I thought about what I was going to do in only an hour and a half or so. I thought about how brave those characters in the books were; I thought about how brave I'd have to be. How I would have to be like Inigo and Fezzik, or Bilbo. Knowing that it's terrifying to go ahead, but it's impossible to go back. There's no room to maneuver, and you can't stay where you are forever.

I found out a lot of things about myself that morning. I learned that although it didn't seem like it, this ablation was indeed an adventure. It was a test of bravery.

…And boy do I sound cheesy.

It was nice that we got to the hospital in relatively good time; otherwise I may have kept up with those sappy thoughts.

Mom turned around and smiled. "We're here," she said softly.

I got out of the car, slammed the door, and looked around. Though it was only 6:05 in the morning, plenty of cars were already in the parking lot. I took a deep breath and then started forward.

We found the lobby relatively quickly – for my family anyway – and Dad went up to the desk to talk to 'sign me in' as he put it.

The elderly woman pulled out a file, and then looked at me. (Mom and I had joined Dad up at the desk.) "Michael Tesoro right?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Birthday?"

For some reason, hospital people are forever asking when you're birthday is. I suppose it's because they don't want to mix people up: even if they have the same name, they won't have the same birthday.

"June 1st," I answered.

"Hold out your hand," she commanded and as I did so, she put a wristband around my wrist. I studied the wristband while Dad and the woman talked about where we were supposed to go now.

The band was white and felt like the bands that you get when you go to an amusement park. It had my full name on it, the date, the hospital, and the name of my doctor, Dr. Ruth McIntyre. It also had the name of the procedure along with random numbers.

"There you go," the woman said smiling. "Have a good one!"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Have a _good one_? Like this was the normal thing to say to the kid having the heart procedure? Oh yeah, real fitting.

"You too." Dad smiled and we left the lobby.

* * *

We found one of the nurses soon after, or rather she found us. We had gone to the right floor and finally asked at the desk where I was supposed to go. One of my nurses came out and showed us to a small room. She gave me a hospital gown and some warm socks to wear. I put my clothes in the bag that she directed and then sat on the bed, nervously waiting.

I didn't have to wait long. The nurse soon came back and as always, took my blood pressure along with weighing and measuring me. I huffed and rolled my eyes as soon as she left. It would never end, would it?

A new nurse soon came in. She had a lovely smile on her face that didn't exactly calm the butterflies in my stomach, but coaxed a smile out of me.

Her name was Pat and she was the one who was going to take an EKG and then give me the IV.

The EKG was like all the other ones; small stickers placed on my skin, attached to wires, a quick buzz from the machine, and then it was all over. I was pretty used to having EKG's by now. But afterwards, it was time for the IV.

I gulped and said I was ready. Though she was doing her best to make me feel comfortable, I was scared to pieces. There have been plenty of times in my life where I have been scared, but never so much as then. But for some reason, I was glad that my parents weren't with me. This seemed like something I had to do myself, without them. I couldn't explain it.

"You don't have to look," she said as she took my left hand and began cleaning the back of it. I decided to myself that I would look away when she began putting it in, which wasn't for a while.

First, she cleaned and sanitized the hand. Then, she put some sort of yellowish goop on top of it. When she pulled out the needle, I looked away. I had heard that if you don't look, you can't really tell when the IV goes in. Believing that, I kept asking Pat if she had done it yet.

If anyone ever tells you IV's don't hurt as they go in…they're wrong. In my case at least.

I could feel the needle enter the vein on the top of my hand and I resisted the urge to cry out. I sucked in my breath and looked up at the clock. It was six forty-five. I vaguely thought how, if it was a school day, I'd be waking up around now. For some reason, that was funny to me.

"It's over," Pat said as I finally looked. The IV needle was inside of my hand and the inserter was sticking out of my hand. Pat was taping something over my hand to 'keep it steady.' I slipped my hand under one of the blankets so that I didn't have to look at it.

My parents came in and sat with me. Pat showed us some videos of what they were going to do for the catheter ablation. I already knew what was going on, but it was a nice review. It also talked about different types of tachycardia, although I didn't pay much attention to that part. I almost wanted to be put under then, because then it would done and over with. The part I paid attention to however was about the adults who had had SVT all their life. They were so grateful to have a procedure like this one because it wasn't open heart surgery, therefore they could afford to do it without having to worry about something going wrong. It made me feel a lot more fortunate about doing this ablation; I had the opportunity to do something so that this SVT wouldn't affect me for the rest of my life.

"Are you ready?" Pat asked after the videos were over.

After going the bathroom again, I said that I was. I crawled into the rolling bed and Pat pulled the covers up to my chin, explaining that the operating room would be cold. I nodded, already shaking, whether from cold or fear, I didn't know.

It was 7:15 AM.

Pat wheeled me through the hospital room, my parents following close behind. We went into the operating room, where two other nurses were. Metal instruments and monitors were everywhere.

"Do you want some music on as you go to sleep?" Pat asked kindly.

I nodded, feeling numb. One of the other nurses went to the radio and switched it on. "What genre do you like?" she asked.

"Um, I like piano music," I said as Pat attached a tube to my IV. I felt a sudden coldness on the back of my hand. "My hand is cold," I told her dumbly. My limbs were beginning to feel heavy.

"That's the anesthesia kicking in," she said softly. The piano music was playing in the background and I instantly recognized it at one of my favorite pieces. I was about to tell Mom and Dad about it when my eyelids began to droop. My eyes rolled up to Pat and then shut.

I was completely under.

* * *

When my eyes opened, I knew it was all over. I can still remember as clear as day what my first thought was: it was just like in the movies. In movies and cartoons, when a character wakes up, the viewer can always see the person's eyelids go up slowly. As a little kid, I can remember always trying to do that when I woke up in the morning. It never worked. So I was surprised to find that that was exactly what happened when I came out of the anesthesia.

I shut my eyes again as a wave of pain came over me. The pain was down by my thighs, in my groin area. It was kind of weird because even though I knew that was where the catheters had been inserted, I still expected my chest to hurt or something. I didn't really feel any different besides that however.

There was a pain in my left elbow as well. I opened my eyes to look at it. There was a green Snoopy circle Band-Aid over it. I blinked, wondering why something was on my elbow.

I turned my head to see a familiar blue cuff around my other arm. Yup, I had a blood pressure cuff around my arm. Would I ever _not_ have to have my blood pressure taken?

I took in the rest of my surroundings. I was in a hospital bed in a room that was the size of our dining room. The walls were beige; there was a small cushioned bench on one side of the room and a curtain on my right side. A machine was attached to my blood pressure cuff that had a bunch of medical stuff on the green screen. My IV was still in.

"He's awake!" a familiar voice cried and suddenly three people were surrounding me. My mom pushed back my black hair and Dad stood next to her smiling. But I didn't look at them, I looked a grinning Snitch.

"What're you doin' here?" I slurred, my throat dry.

Snitch chuckled. "Didn't I promise you I'd be here when you woke up?"

I smiled a little. "I didn't think you were serious,"

Snitch just grinned. "Would I lie to you kiddo?"

I closed my eyes in response. "What time is it?"

"Five-thirty, sleepyhead," Snitch told me matter of factly.

My eyes shot open. "Five thirty?"

"Yepperdoodle," Snitch teased.

"Pick that up from Dutchy?" I smiled.

Snitch shook his head. "Nah, Bumlets' taught me. He got it from one of his siblings."

"One of many." I sighed.

"Lucas?" I could hear Mrs. Utofft's voice. "We need to leave now."

Snitch scowled, but called, "Okay Mom!" He looked at me. "So you're doin' okay buddy?"

Doing okay? My 'sites' where the catheters went in were killing me and I was really thirsty. But considering all the possibilities…

"Yeah," I said, smiling. "I'm fine."

Snitch grinned at me. "Good."

"Thanks for coming Snitch."

"No problem. Mind if I visit when you come home tomorrow?"

I looked towards my parents. Mom nodded so I said, "Sure!" enthusiastically.

"Thanks." Snitch did a casual salute. "Keep on carrying the banner, Ites!"

I saluted back and then the room fell quiet.

"Are you feeling alright honey?" Mom stroked my hair.

I sighed. "I'm glad it's over."

"I think all of us are," Dad said, smiling. He stood up and started towards the door. "I'm going to go get a nurse and tell her you're awake."

I nodded and then a realization hit me. "I don't remember anything," I said, surprised. "I just remember falling asleep."

"Dr. McIntyre told us that there was amnesia in the anesthesia," Mom explained. "She said most patients can't remember anything."

"Oh." I leaned back onto my pillows. "Dang, it'd be cool to remember." I shrugged. "Oh well."

"It was quite interesting to watch," Mom said, smiling.

"Why?"

"Because we could talk to you after the procedure, even though you were still under," Dad explained as he walked back into the room, a nurse following him.

"How's that possible?" I asked, confused.

The nurse – her nametag said, Tammy – smiled. "It's the way the anesthesia works. Though you're asleep, your brain still functions normally, so we can still talk to you and ask you questions. You answered exactly as you would if you were awake."

Mom shivered. "It was scary."

I frowned. "Why?"

"Because you looked dead," Mom explained. "You were very pale and still." She looked sad.

"Did you take a picture?" I wanted to know. I thought that it'd be cool to see what that would look like.

Mom looked horrified. "Of course not! It wasn't pleasant at all. Besides, you hate having your picture taken."

I shrugged, not about to argue.

"Would you like something to eat?" Tammy asked kindly.

I nodded, suddenly aware of how hungry I was - not to mention how badly I had to go to the bathroom. (I hadn't drunk anything since last night, but the IV had been pumping fluids into me during the entire procedure.) After Tammy called the cafeteria for some food, she helped me walk to the bathroom, though I had to be super careful, since I wasn't supposed to move that much. The pain around my groin was a lot worse when I was walking than lying down.

Crawling back into the hospital bed made me feel a bit better. Tammy asked me if I wanted to watch a movie, since I didn't have much else to do. I said yes and she handed me a huge list of movies. This list ranged from _Cinderella_ to _Hellboy 2_. Even though there were plenty of movies that I would usually watch with the boys, I chose to watch _The Little Rascals_. I was glad I had something to distract me, because I still was in some pain and the IV was still creeping me out. (Though I wasn't attached to an actual IV bag, I still had the needle and inserter in. However, I didn't know why since I figured I didn't need it anymore.) I hid my hand under my covers again.

Finally dinner came. Or rather, they called it dinner. It was really just chicken noodle soup without the chicken and the noodles. It was just broth. Tammy explained it was because I had just come out of anesthesia and they couldn't be sure what my stomach would be able to handle. My stomach felt fine, but I drank the broth slowly anyway. It tasted okay. I didn't get why everyone said hospital food was bad. I thought it was fine.

Mom and Dad finally went to the cafeteria, leaving me alone in the room. (They were pretty hungry, since they had been in the hospital with me all day long.) Suddenly, the blue cuff around me began squeezing my arm to take my blood pressure. I nearly panicked, but once I realized it was automatic, I let the machine do its thing. I was becoming a regular expert on the art of having one's blood pressure taken.

I watched yet another Disney movie after _The Little Rascals_ was over because I was bored. I couldn't walk around (I was supposed to keep still so that the sites wouldn't open up and begin bleeding again.) Mom and Dad came back and we talked some, though there wasn't a lot to talk about, or so it seemed. I was tired (though I had just slept for ten hours) so I decided that I would go to sleep. My nurse Tammy told me that Dr. McIntyre would come and see me in the morning, around six-thirty, so it was a good idea to go to bed. It was about nine-thirty. Mom and Dad both stayed the night with me; Mom slept in a chair while Dad took the cushioned couch. I was glad that they were with me; I was too scared to stay there by myself.

Before going to sleep though, there was something Tammy had to do. She called it, "flushing out" my IV with saline. Basically, she plugged a small tube into my inserter and pushed it down, putting saline fluid into my veins. It felt the same as when I got in the anesthesia - freaky - and I could feel the cold seeping through my veins - literally. After that, I got to go to sleep.

It took a while to figure out how to get the bed to lower a bit, but once I did, I shut my eyes. I couldn't get comfortable though. I typically sleep on my side but I couldn't then because I had to keep my legs straight ahead of me and I couldn't let them rub together. That killed the sleeping-on-my-side idea. Obviously, the stomach option was out too. So I was stuck on my back. I had to be careful of my IV hand too, so I laid it on my chest, hoping I wouldn't accidentally roll over in my sleep.

Thankfully, I didn't. I thought for a long time before getting to sleep about what had just happened, how my SVT was gone, how my life would change, etc. I fell asleep eventually though; however, it didn't take as long as I thought it would, since I was still very tired. I woke up a couple times during the night. Both were because of that stupid blood pressure cuff. One time it was by itself and I was more asleep than anything to really notice. I felt like I was in a dream. But another time a new nurse had come in and was doing it. She also just had to wake me up so that I could be awake when Dr. McIntyre came in. By that time, I was able to walk by myself, if not slow. Before Dr. McIntyre came in, Dad and I walked _very_ slowly around the hallway to let me exercise a little. I never appreciated how great walking and running normally was as I did then.

Finally, I crawled back into bed. It was then that Dr. McIntyre came in. "Hello all," she greeted warmly. "I trust the patient is recovering nicely?"

"We can't thank you enough," Mom said, smiling.

"And what about you Michael; how do you feel about this?" the cardiologist asked me.

I smiled. "I'm just glad it's over and everything went okay."

Dr. McIntyre smiled. "Good." She handed my parents a small folder. "Here is the rest of the paperwork along with some of the x-ray pictures."

I was able to look at the pictures then. There were only two, but it showed a really big close-up of my heart, with the three catheters in them.

"I'm going to have to leave you now," Dr. McIntyre told us, still smiling. "I'd like to see you for a check up in about five months, so that we can make sure that everything was done properly. It's very rare that the SVT comes back, but if it does, than it will appear the same as it did before and we would to do the same operation."

I shivered inwardly. I did _not_ want that to happen.

"So I will see you in five months then."

Dr. McIntyre waved goodbye as my family and I said our thank-yous and see-you-soons.

The newest nurse, who had come in with Dr. McIntyre, smiled at me and then said how she had to take the Band-Aids off now and replace them so that they wouldn't stick. It was kind of awkward having her see me down there, but she was very nice about it so that I didn't feel like my privacy was invaded. There was a Band-Aid on each side of my groin and one on my elbow.

The nurse – named Jean – put a liquid on the top of the Band-Aid so that it was easier to pull off. I still had to bite my lip however, because it still hurt a lot. I did however get a look at what my sites actually looked like. There was one hole on my right side, but three on the left. And surprisingly enough, the one on the right hurt more. (Jean suspected that the surgeons prodded more on that side.) The 'holes' were really just red circles on my skin, sensitive to touch. There was dried blood on my skin that Jean let me sponge away gently before covering it up with another Band-Aid. The catheter holes on my left side made me chuckle a bit because it reminded me of the claw marks Wolverine makes in X-Men - only a whole lot smaller. Jean also replaced the Band-Aid on my left elbow.

"There you go," she said, smiling. "Now you'll have to change those Band-Aids everyday for the next three to five days. After that, you may stop."

"Anything we should look out for, or know about?" Mom asked.

Jean nodded. "Yes. There may be some bruising around those areas if you move around often, but you don't have to worry about them that much. We advise not move for the next few days unless necessary. After a week, you should be able to move about just fine."

"So don't worry about bruising," I clarified.

Jean nodded. "Unless it is very big; that can mean an infection."

I nodded. "Okay then."

Jean smiled. "Now all you need to do is eat and we'll flush out the IV again, then you're through."

The thought of eating was good; the thought of having my IV flushed out again was not. I was hoping it might be one of those things that get better the second time; it wasn't. That cold creepy feeling still occurred when Jean put the saline into the IV, but once it was over, it was over; I would never have to do it again.

"What do you like for breakfast?" Jean asked after the saline ordeal was over.

I looked at her in surprise. "I can eat whatever I want now?"

Jean nodded. "Yup."

"Even when I get home?" I pressed.

"We ask that you try not to eat a lot of junk food right away, but basically, yeah."

I grinned. "Awesome!"

"Most people like that too," Jean said, smiling. "So what would you like for breakfast? Eggs, pancakes, toast?"

I chose bacon, scrambled eggs, and a small piece of toast. I still had to eat slowly, but it was a lot better than just broth. I watched cartoons as my parents decided to leave and eat a little too.

"Now we're getting rid of the IV," Jean said after clearing my tray away.

I grinned. "Finally!"

Jean chuckled. "Now this may hurt a bit," she said as she gently pulled the adhesive tape away from my hand. That didn't hurt, but pulling out the needle did. I didn't watch, but it hurt a lot, and Jean had to press down on the hole for a few minutes afterwards to stop the bleeding. (It was one of those times I was grateful not to be like Specs, who can't stand blood. He would've freaked.)

I didn't care though. Having the IV out made my day. I did make my mom take a picture of my hand afterwards though. I had a bunch of grayish adhesive starting from my knuckles to an inch past my wrist, dried blood everywhere, and a Tasmanian Devil Band-Aid on top of it. I got a whole pack of Looney Tunes Band- Aids to replace my old ones for the rest of the week, along with some great big pads to place on my groin area if the bleeding did start up again. (Which thankfully, it didn't.)

After that, I got to go home. It was great; I was wheeled out in a wheelchair to the car where Dad was waiting. (Mom stayed with me as I left.) It was kind of weird changing into regular clothes again after spending the last twenty-six hours in a hospital gown, but it wasn't too bad. And although my nurses were very kind, I was happy to go home. I was finally done with SVT, hopefully forever.

* * *

**Author's Note: Smudge, that "yepperdoodle" from Snitch was for you. :) **

**Hope you liked the chapter! Please review!**

**-Adren**

**P.S. Can you guys belive it? Only one chapter left!**


	20. Chapter 20

_Disclaimer: Like always, I don't own Newsies. :(_

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

I sighed as I walked into the den and awkwardly sat on the couch. I was home.

Finally.

Although I hadn't stayed in the hospital very long, I still got a bit homesick. It was nice to be back, wrapped in my own blankets and pillows again. Mom brought down some more comfortable clothes that I could sleep in. I gingerly climbed in to them. Then I settled down on the couch, ready to sleep some more.

I think I was asleep only an hour when I heard the doorbell ring.

Oh boy.

"You can't stay very long," I heard Mom's voice say. "He just got home a little bit ago and is still very tired."

I was right; it was the boys.

Snitch, Bumlets, Specs, Dutchy, Jake, Mush, and Kid Blink all came romping into the den, grinning and yelling.

"Yo Itey!"

"How's goin' man?"

"Was it as bad as you thought?"

Naturally, the ever girl-loving Kid Blink had to ask, "Were there any really hot nurses like there are in the movies?"

Of course, I had to tell him that all my nurses were at least over forty. I suppose I could've 'improved the truth' as Jack would put it – tell Kid that he missed out on some real hotties, but I didn't think I could really go through with the idea. I was very glad to see everyone though.

"Snitch told us you looked dead," Bumlets said, smiling.

I shrugged. "That's what my parents say."

"Wow!" Dutchy said looking awestruck. We all laughed at his shocked face.

"You were pretty brave, Ites," Jake told me admiredly. I shrugged it off, but the inside of me was reeling. I didn't feel like I had been brave.

I must admit though, I did 'improve' the truth a little when it came to telling the story of what actually happened at the hospital. I didn't go into the details, but acted more like I wasn't scared at all, even though it was the exact opposite of what I was feeling.

As always though, Snitch could tell. Mom shooed the boys out of the room after a half hour, but Snitch insisted that he needed to ask me something _in private_. I suppose that wasn't a lie, but it sounded fishy anyway.

"Feel better, Itey!" hollered Dutchy as the boys raced out the door.

"Thanks guys!" I yelled back and then the room grew silent. I glanced at Snitch, who looked at me and then looked away. He jumped up off the couch, sat in a chair, and then stood up again, slapping his pockets. I watched him intently, wondering what he was going to say.

"Were you scared?" he finally blurted out, locking glances with me.

I wasn't expecting that, but I answered it truthfully. "Yeah, I was."

Snitch nodded, suddenly calmed down. "I thought so."

"Why do you ask?" I wondered out loud.

Snitch looked sheepish. "I don't know," he said, walking over and sitting on the other end of the couch. "I guess…" he trailed off sounding awkward.

I frowned. Being used to sounding unsure of myself and nervous, it was strange to see Snitch look the way he was.

"Snitch, what is it?" I finally asked.

He looked at me then. "I'm glad you're doing alright, Itey," he said softly.

"Was that what you were going to say?" I pressed.

He shook his head. "No. I just wanted to say…" I never saw Snitch look so awkward or nervous in my life.

"Snitch, spit it out!" I told him firmly. It seemed strange that I was the one bossing him around now, but I had no patience at the moment.

Snitch looked up in surprise. "Why, Itey," he drawled, suddenly sounding like himself again. "You just snapped at me."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, don't change the subject. Now what were you going to say?"

Snitch still looked surprised, but then truthful. "I guess what I want to say is…" he said slowly. "is that really…I'm proud of you, Ites."

It was like a slap in the face. I had no idea what to say.

"Oh..." I said quietly. "But why?"

Snitch grinned at me. "'Cause you were brave."

I scoffed at that. "Yeah right. I was scared to pieces the entire time."

"But you still did it," Snitch said quickly. "And honestly…I don't think I could've."

And as if I hadn't had enough shocks already. When I was younger, Snitch seemed like the bravest person in the world. I was always the scaredy- cat. It seemed mind-boggling that he said I was brave.

"Yes you could've," I told him. "You're braver than I am."

Snitch shrugged. "I doubt it. I can act brave and tough but really…I don't know if I could've done it as calmly as you did."

"But I was freaked out," I pointed out.

"Like I said before Ites; you still did it." Snitch smiled at me and clapped my shoulder, standing up to leave. "I'm glad you did it, Itey…and I'm glad that you're doing okay now."

I never felt so humbled. "Thanks Snitch," I said softly. I spat in my hand and held it out. After a moment, Snitch did the same.

"Carrying the banner," he said softly and then left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

**Epilogue **

_December 1st _

Journal,

We went back to Dr. McIntyre's today for a five month check-up. Nothing had changed. We got lost trying to find the clinic, and after finding it we waited in the same waiting room that looked exactly the same. The nurses were still very kind, and I even thought that I glimpsed Nurse Shannon as we went down the hallway. And naturally, I had to be measured, weighed and of course, have my blood pressure taken. I even had an EKG, my fourth and last one.

I haven't had any heart things since my ablation, except random bits of arrhythmia, which doesn't bother me all that often. I still haven't told Mom and Dad however. Dr. M. said that I would have several bouts of arrhythmia during the following month after my ablation, which I did. By mid-July, almost all the arrhythmia had stopped and it rarely comes up anymore, except on very stressful occasions. This, I suppose, is a good thing. I don't miss the SVT at all. It was hard for a long time and really affected me. I would get depressed often, and was a lot more cautious of what activities I could do - afraid of getting an SVT attack.

I remember one particular afternoon when I was so exhausted and tired, that I just climbed into bed and listened to my heartbeat. It was so strange; the beat felt so fast, even though I wasn't having an attack. I could make my heart beat faster or slower because of my stress level at the time.

I remember wondering if I would feel different after the ablation. I didn't think I would, but I did. I even tried doing what I had done all those months ago. It was different. My heartbeat was normal; nothing I could do would change that. The only time that my heart speeds up now is when I see that, um, certain girl in my history class. But I'm not going to write down what I feel about her, not even in my own private journal. Some things are just too embarrassing.

It was certainly weird though getting over the heart procedure; not only did I have to get used to not having SVT, I walked so bowl-legged the whole week that Mom took to calling me John Wayne. And I did end up getting those bruises on my sites. They were this weird limeish green with edges of yellow. They did go away eventually and I did finally cut my hospital band off. (I still have it in my drawer though.) It seems the only thing I have left of SVT are memories and the scars on my legs (which have only faded a little after five months. Now they look like purple mosquito bites)

I know one thing though; my heart is normal now and I'll never have to worry about my heart again.

It's finally over. Goodbye SVT...forever...

_Fin…_

* * *

_Dedication: to Skaterater, my best friend. Thanks for being "Snitch" in my own life's story._

_Thanks __to all the readers (and reviewers) of this fic; I always appreciated your comments, whether they were long or short. Just the fact that you took the time to read and review this fic meant a lot to me. Thank you._

_Special thanks__ to Bumlets girl (Smudge) whose encouragement, support, threats, and shall I say, nagging, was very helpful. ;) Thanks Smudge!_

_Uber-mega-super thanks__ to my ever amazing beta, Laelyn24, who gave much advice, encouragement, support, and prayers during this. Lae, you are the best beta in the world; thanks for doing this for me (especially since you're not a major modern fic fan). Yer a pal! :D_

_One last A/N__: I'm a Christian. I didn't make this fic Christian. I really wish I did, because as many of you have already guessed, I indeed had SVT and had the same type of catheter ablation as Itey. (Many of these chapters were based on my experiences, though some were blown up a bit to make it more interesting. ;) Skaterater and I didn't fight that much for one.)_

_Maybe you're not Christian, but I have to make sure that all of you know that without my savior Jesus Christ, I don't know what I would've done during this period in my life. So if you're a fellow believer, than rock on and know what I say is true. If you're not, well, I'm praying that you'll find Jesus before you die. Because, as Kay Arthur once said; "it's never too late until He calls you home." (Dang straight!)  
_

_That's all for now folks. Thanks again for everything. The long over-due "Newsbunny Hutch" will be coming out soon. Hopefully you guys will check it out. :D__ Carrying the banner everyone!_

_As always,_

_AdrenalineRush16_


End file.
